Court of Appeals: Mayor Jim Fouts ineligible for reelection

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts is ineligible to run for a fifth term as mayor, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled on Friday.

In the opinion published on Friday, the judges ordered City Clerk Sonja Buffa to "immediately disqualify" Fouts as a candidate for mayor in the August primary election and to not place his name on the ballot.

Fouts told The Detroit News Friday that he is "extremely disappointed" with the Court of Appeals decision where the judges arrived at an "implausible conclusion that clearly contradicts the lower court's opinion."

Fouts has been mayor of Michigan's third biggest city since getting elected in 2007, after serving on the City Council for 26 years. He had sought a fifth term despite term limits for the city only allowing for three.

Voters approved a maximum of five, four-year terms for mayor in 2016. Voters approved an amendment to the city charter in 2020 that changed term limits for mayor to three, four-year terms.

Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Toia issued an opinion in March after Fouts filed to run again that said language addressing years served prior to the 2020 amendment is not clear in the city charter or the actual proposal section on the ballot.

In the opinion published on Friday, the judges disagreed.

"We conclude that the relevant charter sections' failure to specify that time in office before the 2020 amendment will be counted does not make them ambiguous. Nor do we find dispositive the fact that the 'terms served prior' language was not in the ballot proposal question itself, where the language actually was on the ballot within the proposal section," the judges wrote.

Warren City Council President Patrick Green and mayoral candidate said the Court of Appeals upheld the will of the people.

"Now it's time for city administration stop playing political games with term limits and distorting the city charter," Green said. "The mayor has seven months left in office and we have to focus on what matters to residents: public safety, roads, parks and economic development."

Fouts said the court is attempting to "legislate the election results in November," and he hopes that the city's Election Commission will appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.

Fouts announced he was running for reelection in Michigan's third most populous city in February. The Warren City Council questioned the legality of the move, with Councilman Ronald Papandrea and the council filing a lawsuit to challenge Fouts running in the August primary. Papandrea, Green, Macomb County Commissioner Michelle Nard and state Rep. Lori Stone are running for mayor.

“My strong conclusion is that the Court of Appeals has chosen to deny the voters the right to have a choice in November," Fouts said. "The council has achieved what I would call a TKO in denying competitive election in November."

anichols@detroitnews.com