Government of Saginaw, Michigan

[1][2] The early government was fraught with geographic rivalries due to the forced merger of the two cities.

Each council person ran a specific department of the city: public works; finance; parks and cemeteries; health and safety; and water and sewer.

[3] Pursuant to the city charter, Saginaw is governed by a nine-member elected at-large Council.

The term of office for a member of the city council is four years commencing with the first meeting following a regular municipal election.

The mayor has the prerogative to make some appointments to various boards and commissions, and otherwise serves in a ceremonial role.

Ethnic and Racial division on the city council that led to the office of mayor having been held for eight years by Gary L. Loster, an African-American, followed by Wilmer Jones Ham, also an African-American, for four years fueled a push by the main proponents for charter revision for having the mayor of Saginaw directly elected by the voters rather than the city council.

The commission's chairwoman was Susan Carter who previously had served as a member of the city council and mayor pro tempore.

The proposed revision provided for a Mayor elected directly by the voters who would assume a full-time administrative role in city government.

The office of city manager would have been retained under the proposed charter but assume a bit of a diminished role.

The compensation to be paid to council members and the mayor would have been substantially increased over the current levels.

The proposed charter was submitted to the attorney general of the state of Michigan whose staff reviewed it and found 99 questionable issues with the document including some outright violations of law and released a report on March 2, 2007.

The revised charter proposal would pay the Mayor a full-time salary and the council members would be paid more.

The cap, as well as stagnating and declining income tax revenue and cuts by the Michigan legislature to its shared revenue for municipalities, has left Saginaw, like many of Michigan's core cities, in a difficult financial position to provide services and pay for legacy costs such as pensions and retiree health benefits.