SOUR GRAPES!

Wyandotte’s City Council meeting Monday, April 12th was a

stage for an attack by ex-police and fire commissioner Michael
Sexton. His letter dated April 5, 2010 accused Mayor Joe
Peterson of violating the Incompatible Offices Act. Sexton wrote
that the Mayor “knowingly and willfully” violated the law when
he ran for City Council and for Mayor. This writer knows that this
statement is a bald face lie!
Mayor Peterson works 21 hours a week on a contract to provide
probation services for the 27th District Court . His many years in
law enforcement make him a natural to help in this area. The
Mayor works on a three year contract that pays a wage but no
benefits. The Mayor must pay his own taxes and social security.

Now, why is Sexton’s statement a lie? I am the Treasurer for Joe

Peterson’s campaign committee. I have been known in
Wyandotte for fighting any unethical conduct from our
politicians for almost 40 years! When Joe Peterson decided to
run for council, he approached me for support and asked me to
be part of his committee. I knew of the Incompatible Offices Act
at that time and vetted the issue in Joe’s case. I also made Joe
get an opinion from Wyandotte’s City Attorney Bill Look before I
would support him or be part of his campaign. Bill Look gave a
green light , saying that there was nothing wrong, so we went
forward.

Sexton’s letter refers to a letter, now remember this, only a

letter, from one of the Deputy Attorney Generals, NOT an
Attorney General Opinion. This letter gives an opinion on a full
time, court officer in the Inkster District Court, who also is
serving as a Councilperson in Inkster. The letter gives the
opinion that this officer is in conflict with the Incompatible
Offices Act. This man ends up resigning because he is also
found to have run in a council district where he was not a
resident. Inkster elects their council from districts in the city so
that all areas are equally represented, much like the old wards of
Wyandotte.
Let’s look at the Incompatible offices Act that Sexton has stated
Joe violated.

\ The act states that,

“The attorney general or a prosecuting attorney may apply to

the circuit court…in which the alleged act or practice in violation
of this act is alleged to have occurred or in which a party to the
alleged violative act or practice resides for injunctive or other
appropriate judicial relief or remedy. HOWEVER, THIS ACT
SHALL NOT CREATE A PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION”

It also states that;

“An action of a public officer or public employee SHALL NOT be

absolutely void by reason of this act. An action of a public
officer or public employee shall be voidable only by
discretionary action of a court of competent jurisdiction, as
prescribed in section 4. “ (above) However, any judicial relief or
judicial remedy shall operate prospectively only.”

It is clear that the City Council nor Michael Sexton has the
authority under the law to rule on this allegation. ONLY the
Attorney General or the Prosecuting Attorney of Wayne County
can file an action in circuit court and ONLY a Judge can decide
this issue in a future sense.

Further, the Standards of Conduct Act for public officials states

that;

“(3) Subject to subsection (4), section 2(6) and (7) SHALL NOT
APPLY and a public officer SHALL BE permitted to vote on,
make, or participate in making a governmental decision if all of
the following occur.”

(a) does not apply to Joe

(b) “The public officer is NOT PAID MORE THAN 25 HOURS
PER WEEK for this state or political subdivision of this
state”.
(c) Does not apply to Joe
So once again the Mayor is in line with the law. He only works 21
hours per week.

Why did this happen? Sour Grapes!

Michael Sexton was once a police and fire commissioner. Last
April 2009, Mayor Peterson did not reappoint Sexton, then this
year he did not reappoint Sextons friend Randy Hicks. Sextons
letter was addressed one day after the Mayor informed Randy
Hicks that he was not going to be reappointed. HMMMMMM!

Let’s talk about the tenure of Sexton on the police and fire
commission.
I am a cable volunteer here in Wyandotte. I started to tape the
police and fire commission meetings two years ago when their
meetings were being held in the council chambers where we
have a mini production studio. Sexton did not want the meetings
covered, until he was told under the Open Meetings Act we can
tape meetings or show them live. After that he proceeded to hide
behind the pole in the chambers and push his microphone away
from his mouth so it would not pick up his voice. After the end
of the meetings, it was a regular occurrence for a quorum of the
commission to take all their paperwork in hand and walk to a
downtown bar to continue their talks, sometimes having officers
of the departments join them. This is a serious violation of the
Open Meetings Act. I am in possession of a letter signed by our
Attorney General, Mike Cox telling me to call the Police and have
a report made if such an action occurs, but what is one to do
when it is the members of the police commission themselves
violating. Should I call the police on the police? State police
would probably have taken too long to get to the bar and catch
them in the act. Also Sexton is known to have bought guns from
the police department. These guns were guns no longer going to
be used but should have been advertised and done in a public
sale so those of you who wished to purchase one would be able
to. This was a decision to do this in private by the commission
members. Certainly not proper! I have filed a Freedom of
Information Act request to find out exactly what happened with
these guns. To be fair Sexton did donate time and expertise in
helping with the dispatching problems.
So as you can see this looks like SOUR GRAPES from an ex
commission member. Some commission and board members
think their appointments are for life. The fact is, each Mayor
appoints those he can trust to follow the policies he stands for.

The Mayor has done nothing wrong here. He received the OK

from the City Attorney and there was nothing mentioned by any
one until Sexton and his letter. Where has this man been for five
years. If Sexton had reservations about Joe as Mayor, or as a
Councilperson, then Sexton was bound by his oath of office to
see that the law was upheld. Not a word from Sexton until he
and his friend were not reappointed!
SOUR GRAPES INDEED! (stay tuned …more to come)