Mount Clemens shifts marijuana permit decisions to full commission after debate; approves pay raises, leases and budget moves

The Mount Clemens City Commission voted to transfer final approval of marijuana business permit applications from a three-member staff committee to the full city commission following a lengthy discussion about transparency, fairness and potential legal exposure under Michigan's Open Meetings Act.

The debate centered on whether a committee of staff (the city manager or designee, the community development director and the city clerk) should continue to screen and decide applications or whether the commission should be the decisionmaker. City Manager Mr. Johnson (speaker 6) and City Attorney Mr. Murray (speaker 12) told the commission the attorney'draft ordinance removes the three-member committee and places decision authority with the full commission to reduce Open Meetings Act litigation risk. Mr. Murray warned, "the law on the Open Meetings Act is that one person cannot constitute a public body," arguing that routing final decisions to the commission avoids repeated litigation over committee deliberations.

Commissioner Mentzer (speaker 4), who had asked for clarity around enforcement timing earlier in the meeting, said he favored retaining a recommending committee with broader representation, including a business member and a resident, to help ensure fairness and to mirror how planning recommendations are handled. "I think a committee should make a recommendation to the commission," Mentzer said. Opponents said a single resident or business appointee might not fairly represent the community and pointed to prior litigation in other municipalities as a caution.

The motion to make the City Commission the deciding body on permit approvals…