Warren Mayor Jim Fouts can't run again, Court of Appeals rules
WARREN, Mich. (FOX 2) - Warren Mayor Jim Fouts cannot seek reelection this year, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
Last month, a Macomb County Circuit Court judge upheld a ruling by the city election commission that he could run for a fifth term. However, this decision was appealed by the Warren City Council, leading to the Court of Appeals ordering Fouts' name be removed from the ballot.
"I am confident, cautiously confident - you never know - that the Supreme Court will reverse this," Fouts said. "And obviously state that this was not clear, this did not follow the previous court rulings, therefore, Jim Fouts will be allowed to run."
Fouts wants to run again, but based on this most recent ruling - the Michigan Court of Appeals essentially said he can’t, as of now, indicating Fouts should be immediately disqualified as a candidate for mayor in 2023, adding in writing that his name should not be placed on the ballot for election.
Some accuse Green of playing politics because he is running for the mayor's seat.
"This is about equity, everyone is equal as far as the number of terms and the lengths they can serve," Green said.
In 2020, an amendment was added to the city's charter that limited elected officials to three terms.
Fouts argued that this did not apply to him because previous term limits were not noted in that amendment change.
The Court of Appeals wrote in its opinion that "the relevant charter sections’ failure to specify that time in office before the 2020 amendment will be counted does not make them ambiguous."
Fouts was first elected mayor in 2007.