With Lawsuit Settled, Clawson Pays Legal Fees, Appoints Tinlin to Fill Vacancy

(Crystal A. Proxmire, Jan. 17, 2023)

Clawson, MI – After a 13 month legal battle over a seat on City Council, Clawson officials have appointed Scott Tinlin to serve the remaining time on a partial term seat, which ends in November of this year.

Tinlin had run for a Council seat in 2021 and was the first runner up in that race. The seat in question has been empty since 2021 to an ongoing lawsuit.

In 2021 George Georges resigned his seat on Council to be immediately appointed to the vacant seat left by Kathy Phillips when she resigned in order to run for Mayor. Georges had also run for council that year and came in fourth place. The Council, led by outgoing Mayor Reese Scripture, appointed Georges on their last meeting, Nov. 3, rather than waiting for the organizational meeting for the new Mayor and council members to fill the position.

However, at the Nov. 21 organizational meeting, led by newly elected Mayor Paula Millan, Council voted not to seat Georges, with the claim that he had not been sworn in within ten days of his appointment.

Georges sued the City and the seat remained vacant through the process.

Recenlty Georges and the City of Clawson came to a settlement agreement where Georges declined the seat and the City agreed to pay $14,000 in Georges’ attorney fees. Mayor Millan also read a prepared statement thanking Georges for his service. The City also is responsible for their own attorney fees, which was discussed at the Jan. 17th Council meeting to be about $20,000.

With the settlement in place, the vacancy could be filled. At a special meeting on Jan. 11 officials discussed possibilities for the process, and at the Jan. 17 they decided to make the appointment.

Tinlin resigned from the Planning Commission to accept the appointment, and was sworn in at the Tuesday evening meeting.

Tinlin did a candidate interview with Oakland County Times for the 2021 election, stating that “Clawson has been a great place to live, to raise a family. And I’ll make every effort to make sure that continues into the future.” He talked about the need for balanced budget and spending strategies, the importance of city services, looking into tree maintenance to prevent power outages, and working with the school system.

The new Councilperson has a background of over 40 years in corporate operations for international companies, including those in aerospace, automotive, and pharmaceuticals. “I’ve worked with many cultures and people,” he said.

In addition to the resolution of the lawsuit and the filling of the vacancy, the Clawson community has another big task ahead of them. A Charter Revision Commission has been meeting to review the City Charter, which is the document that outlines local rules for Council and administration to follow. Revising the Charter requires the public to call for a Commission and elect members to it, who then create the revisions, which must then be voted on by the public.

In this case, in order to meet the various deadlines – including approval of the language by the Governor of Michigan – the goal is to have the revisions done by April. In the meantime the commission – and any members of the public who would like to attend – are meeting on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month in City Hall at 6:30pm.

Much of the confusion over council appointments has been because of Charter provisions. One requires members of Council to resign their seat if they wish to run for Mayor, which creates a vacancy to be filled. The rules are also not clear about how appointments are to be made when a vacancy occurs. Another provision requires that residents be 25 years or older to run for office, which created confusion in the 2021 election when a candidate was deemed to be to young, but whose name remained on the ballot.

Members of the Charter Revision Commission welcome input on these and other Charter issues, and invite members of the public to come hear discussions and weigh in.

Learn more about the Charter Revision Commission at https://www.cityofclawson.com/your_government/charter_commission_.php