Walled Lake council orders outside audit of recent contracts and severance language
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Summary
Following lengthy public complaints, the council authorized outside counsel to perform a compliance and validity audit of recent contract amendments and severance provisions and directed a temporary hold on any severance payouts pending the audit.
The Walled Lake City Council voted to hire independent special counsel to review recent contract amendments, including a controversial city manager severance clause that several council members described as a possible “poison pill.” Mayor (speaker 1) moved to engage outside counsel and the motion passed by roll call.
The decision followed a heated public comment period in which a resident raised a wide range of concerns about contracts, transfers of city-owned property and alleged improper accounting. The council discussed making contract documents more accessible on the city website and redacting personal data before posting.
Council members said the purpose of the audit is to confirm compliance with the charter and state law and to clarify whether any language encumbers the city’s ability to act without imposing large severance costs. Speaker 1 said the council would “not be given any severance payout or legal fee reimbursement” pending the audit and described the requested review as a compliance and validity audit to be performed by the firm named in the motion (special independent counsel RSJA), with a stated “not to exceed” funding cap read aloud during the meeting.
City staff told the council that severance provisions include step-down provisions after certain time thresholds; during the discussion staff and councilmembers disagreed on the precise terms and on how the clause was intended to operate. Staff noted that some provisions step down from a longer severance period after an initial time window, while council members said the documented wording appeared to create an outsized liability for the city if the council chose to replace the position.
The motion to retain outside counsel passed on a roll-call vote after brief debate (roll-call recorded in the minutes). Council also directed staff to make union contracts and other vendor agreements more accessible on the website and agreed to an initial posting of union contracts while the audit proceeds.
Next steps: Council authorized the mayor and city staff to provide outside counsel with access to the relevant documents and data needed to complete the review. The council did not set a firm public deadline at the meeting; members said they expect to receive the audit results and to take further action after counsel reports back.
