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Walled Lake council debates posting city contracts online; motion to collect contracts fails, tabled for further review
Summary
Council discussed posting employee and vendor contracts online. A motion to collect and publish all contracts failed 3–4; a subsequent motion to table the issue while council reviews assembled contracts passed unanimously.
Councilors debated whether to publish employee and vendor contracts on the city website, weighing transparency against privacy and staff capacity.
The City Attorney told council that while an old charter provision appears to require residents-only appointments to boards, state Planning Act language allowing one nonresident member supersedes the charter and that formal charter cleanup is appropriate. That legal framing carried into the contracts discussion: council members and staff reported they had assembled employee and union contracts for internal review.
One council member argued the public wants contracts posted and moved to direct the city manager to collect all contracts and hand them to the council and mayor for posting. The motion was seconded, but by roll call it failed 3–4 (Shen Singh — No; Woods — Yes; Ambrose — Yes; Arnold — No; Locke — Yes; O'Rourke — No; Gunther — No). A separate motion to table the matter for one meeting while council reviews the assembled contracts passed unanimously.
Why it matters: Posting contracts raises privacy and administrative concerns but also responds to constituent demands for transparency. The council chose a cautious approach to avoid overburdening limited staff while ensuring council members can review the documents.
What’s next: City staff will email the assembled contracts to council members for review and the council will revisit the posting question at the next meeting.
