Warren Mayor Jim Fouts touts accomplishments, airs grievances at last annual address

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts gave his last State of the City address as leader of Michigan's third-largest city Thursday — a blend of personal Festivus, diatribe against the current City Council and plethora of political endorsements.

He called on the Michigan attorney general to investigate the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court, which issued rulings that prevent him from seeking a fifth term as mayor. If not, he said, he's going to request a federal investigation of the court system in Michigan.

From his bully pulpit, Fouts ticked off accomplishments during his 16 years as mayor and what he would do if he could serve yet another term, while airing grievances at the courts as well as at City Council members, their hired attorney and the attorney's law firm. He showed a couple of clips of council meetings to emphasize the behavior that he said made the "accidental" council one from "hell."

Butterflies, council members and endorsements

He reiterated his efforts and support for a downtown project with hotel by City Hall — a proposal he's been trying to get through for years. He said the City Council has declined to vote on the idea nearly 40 times. He said it was "profoundly disappointing" the council hasn't taken any vote on the project, which he said would bring millions of dollars in taxes each year "at no burden on the taxpayers."

He weaved in jabs at the council, saying he believed the city needed to do something with butterflies "and I'm not referring to the City Council," and said the city now would have 12 butterfly refuges.

Fouts also tried to shape the future of the city and its government by touting what he thought was important and by backing several candidates.

More: Michigan Supreme Court won't take up term-limit case involving Warren Mayor Jim Fouts

Fouts' comments were similar — and similarly fiery — to those made during a lengthy news conference he held May 18, a day after the Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Warren City Clerk Sonja Buffa and the Warren Election Commission after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Fouts was not eligible to run for mayor again.

Fouts, a decadeslong politician in Warren, spoke for an hour and 15 minutes to a crowd of a couple hundred people, ranging from at least one Macomb County officeholder to Warren's police and fire commissioners, the city attorney and city employees.

Lifetime chamber of commerce membership

The two-hour lunch event at Andiamo in Warren, where Fouts has held prior annual state of the city addresses, began with mingling, drinks and a prayer.

Guests gobbled several courses — salad, pasta, chicken, potatoes, green beans and ice cream. They rewarded Fouts with applause several times during his speech, which ended with a local chamber of commerce presenting him with a lifetime member certificate.

Outside the venue, city resident Lori Harris stood on the sidewalk with signs, mostly about making Warren safer with Americans with Disabilities Act improvements. Tucked among them also was one stating: "Your wife wants a divorce." Fouts previously said, "My life and my wife is Warren."

More: Warren Mayor Fouts faces toughest test of his career. Will he survive?

Fouts' final state of the city address might be one of his last large public speaking events before exiting the mayor's office in November.

His hopes of being able to run for another term were high in March after a Macomb County Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of Buffa and the Warren Election Commission, saying he was eligible to run for a fifth, four-year mayoral term.

But they were dashed less than a month later by the Court of Appeals when it ruled in favor of the City Council and Councilman Ron Papandrea, who challenged the initial ruling because of mayoral term limits approved by voters in 2020.

The Court of Appeals judges said Buffa was to “immediately disqualify” Fouts as a candidate for mayor and not place his name on the ballot.

More: Macomb County's culture of corruption: 'It's how it's always been'

The Michigan Supreme Court last month declined to hear an appeal by Buffa and the city Election Commission, saying it was "not persuaded that the question presented should be reviewed by this Court."

Fouts might help the next administration for free

Fouts was not named as a party in any of the lawsuits, but the decisions directly affected him.

Six other candidates are running for mayor in the Aug. 8 primary, including City Council President Pat Green, state Rep. Lori Stone and Macomb County Commissioner Michelle Nard.

Fouts announced that he is endorsing the city's Human Resources Director George Dimas for mayor, whom Fouts said he used to challenge when Dimas was on City Council years ago.

Fouts said he was asked by Dimas to help out if he is elected mayor and Fouts said: "I will do it. I cannot be appointed. I'm gonna do it for the costly sum of zero cents. I will do it for free." He did not endorse any of the current City Council members.

Fouts closed his remarks by saying: "We need a new day to bring civility back to government, to end chaos and conflict, to end the outrageous development that's developed in our council where the mayor cannot communicate with the council, he can only communicate with them when they're suing him and they're suing the city at the expense of the taxpayers. Enough is enough."

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Warren Mayor Jim Fouts wants US investigation of Michigan courts