The Royal Oak City Commission used Zoom for its Monday meeting and their 16-item agenda. The highlight was item number 15, the resolution to censure Commissioner Kim Gibbs as requested by Mayor Pro Tem Patricia Paruch and supported by Commissioners Sharlan Douglas and Kyle DuBuc for her taking part in the Operation Gridlock in Lansing on April 15.
The censure vote was 5-2 in favor of the censure. The 7:30 p.m. meeting ended around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Public comment was held via pre-recorded phone calls. There were 100 total calls taken the afternoon leading up to the meeting. Two were hang ups, 96 were about the censure alone and four were not about the censure. Commission members had problems hearing the pre-recorded comments, delaying the meeting even further. After a short break, they reconvened and listened to more than two hours of phone calls in regard to the resolution.
Comments were edited for brevity.
Linda R. of Royal Oak said, “I am embarrassed, disheartened and saddened that Royal Oak Commissioner Kim Gibbs took part in a political rally in Lansing where she appeared with people who had no PPE, were not respecting proper distancing practices, were blocking access to hospitals and were brandishing guns and Confederate flags.”
Randy Painter, a “long time taxpayer here in Royal Oak,” said, “The issue concerning Kim Gibbs and any censorship of the commission with this Gibbs protest thing, really reeks of partisan politics and almost a totalitarian type of attitude going on in Royal Oak with the commission. I really, really think this is a dangerous mindset the commission is embarking on. She is entitled to her opinions, right or wrong, under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The commission is overreaching their authority.”
Comments ran on both sides in support of Gibbs and in support of the censure. Gibbs was supported by Commissioner Randy LeVasseur who said in his lengthy response before voting on the resolution, “This commission has a history of taking such actions of disrespecting the opinions and perspectives of others. From my perspective, disagreements are part of the political process. They are a necessary part of the checks and balances of the system that leads to better government. You don’t seem to see that. You don’t seem to respect that… It’s all about this commission trying to shut down Commissioner Gibbs because she’s not part of your crowd.”
“You are not what we need representing us in Royal Oak,” Commissioner Melanie Macey stated at the end of her lengthy statement against Commissioner Gibbs in support of the censure.
Gibbs defended her actions before the vote.
“I do want to thank all the people who have supported me with their kind words and messages and support as I have come under attack,” she said. “I have seen the emails that came from the greater Royal Oak Democrat club. I was exercising my First Amendment rights when I attended Operation Gridlock in support of thousands of Michigan small businesses.”
Mayor Mike Fournier made the final comments before the vote, noting “we should hold our elected officials to a higher standard.”
The resolution came about due to Gibbs attending an outdoor rally at the Michigan State capital on April 15. The resolution noted that “by failing to obey the safe-distancing order in the middle of a large public gathering and without a protective mask, Commissioner Gibbs violated her oath of office to support the Constitution of the State of Michigan and the laws, orders and regulations promulgated thereunder, and her failure to comply with the executive orders, Commissioner Gibbs put other attendees and citizens with whom she came in contact, or with whom she will come in contact, at greater risk for contracting COVID-19.”
The full resolution is found on the city’s website.
City Attorney and Interim City Manager David Gillam explained more about the censure in an email.
“Generally, a censure is a formal reprimand of one of the members of a body by the remainder of the body,” Gillam said. “The Royal Oak City Charter does not provide the City Commission with the authority to remove a sitting member from office. As a result, as sitting city commissioner can either be recalled pursuant to state election law or removed by the governor under state law for misconduct in office.”
And according to Gillam, “Under the City Charter, if there is a vacancy on the City Commission, the vacancy is filled by a majority vote of the remaining members.”
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