Flint city council can take their seats, resume city business

Flint, MI– After a premature swearing-in ceremony and a canceled meeting for the new Flint City Council, things are getting back on track. 

On Nov. 10, the Genesee County Board of Canvassers announced that they had certified the results of the council’s general election– something that hadn’t been done before the council was sworn in on Nov. 8. 

Shortly after the swearing-in ceremony, Genesee County Clerk John Gleason held a press conference announcing that the ceremony was premature.

“The communities cannot swear in those candidates until the certification of the election is over,” Gleason said on Nov. 8. “And it has not been completed.”

Additionally, Gleason said that holding a council meeting before the election results are certified would be a violation of the process.

“These folks, they can’t vote tonight,” he said. “They can’t hold office until it’s certified.”

For years the City Charter stated that the swearing-in ceremony and first council meeting would be held the Monday after the election. But the new charter, which took effect in 2018, says that the meeting and ceremony should be held after certification.

“The City Council shall meet at the usual place for City Council meetings at 7:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on the first Monday following certification of the election of its members,” the Charter states. 

The council meeting scheduled for Nov. 8 was canceled about an hour before it was set to begin. Now that the results have been certified, the council meeting can be rescheduled.

According to the language in the Charter, the council should meet next Monday, Nov. 15, but this date has not been confirmed by Flint City Clerk Inez Brown.

The council was also scheduled to meet on Thursday, Nov. 11, to continue the investigative hearing into the city’s trash contract, but that meeting has also been canceled. A new date for the meeting hasn’t been scheduled.