There’s much more on Michigan’s Nov. 5 election ballot than the presidential and U.S. Senate races. At Michigan Public, we’re also highlighting some local ballot measures from across the state.
In Saginaw, residents will be voting on a city charter amendment titled “Back the Blue Public Safety Priority.” Since the proposal was added to the ballot, there have been questions about what it would actually do and whether it’s even legal to put it up for a vote.
MLive reporter Justin Engel looked into the initiative and its origins. He spoke with Michigan Public Morning Edition host Doug Tribou.
Doug Tribou: Before we get into what’s actually in the language of the ballot proposal, could you tell us who’s behind the initiative and how they got it onto the ballot?
Justin Engel: The organization that's behind the initiative, they are also called Back the Blue. It seems to be a national network that also has a state chapter, which also has local chapters. They spent the summer collecting signatures. And part of my reporting goes into some of the issues they had with that — dealing with the city office that was trying to canvass these votes and make sure they had enough votes.
There were some attempts elsewhere. I know in Grand Rapids, for instance, there was also a petition drive that for whatever reason came up short.
DT: The proposed charter amendment in Saginaw is fairly long. The are nine sections labeled with the letters A through I. The opening section says the amendment “aims to make public safety a top priority in the city. This includes recognizing the sacrifices made by Firefighters, Police Officers, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and other First Responders. Citizens want to highlight their crucial roles and the risks they face while serving the community.”
The language also says the proposal “does not raise taxes or fees, appropriate money or create any unfunded mandate for city government,” but it does make a number of very specific recommendations that would cost money. Can you tell us about some of those recommendations?
JE: Well, they are directing city leaders to do things like make sure that there's training for body camera usage for police. They're also asking city leaders to prioritize life insurance purchases for police and firefighters. Those are some of the things that could, eventually down the line, result in the city spending a little bit more out of pocket. But the charter amendment itself doesn't lay out what those costs might be.
DT: Well, that was one of the interesting things about it. As you say, it doesn't have mandate language to it. There's a lot of phrases like “will prioritize” and “when possible.” Did the Back the Blue group tell you anything about that approach?
JE: I talked to the person at the statewide group. His explanation was, this is just a way for us to ask the city of Saginaw to support your police and firefighters. This is basically an answer to the "defund the police" movement.
DT: You also found that there are questions about the legality of including these items in Saginaw’s charter. What did the governor’s office have to say about the proposal?
JE: Yeah, so I was able to get some documents, email exchanges between the governor's office and the City of Saginaw, where the governor basically said, we got this language a little late. And we need a little more time, and there needs to be a little more transparency.
The problem with that letter from the governor was that it came at a time when the people at the county level were finalizing the ballots. And so one of the county clerk executives said, "I got this message, but it was too late for me to follow the governor's direction at all because I felt like I had a constitutional duty to put this on the ballot." So it's on there.
DT: One of the most surprising details from your reporting is that the group Back the Blue went through this whole initiative process and got their proposal on the ballot in Saginaw, but didn’t court any support from actual police or firefighters in the city. You spoke with a number of local first responders. What did they tell you?
JE: This was one of the odder parts of this story: that I seemed to be the person to inform the police union interim president. I guess he had read in the news about the effort underway in Grand Rapids, but didn't realize that it was on the Saginaw ballot until I called him and asked him about it. And then he did some research.
Also, the former firefighters' union president, who is now the chairperson of the Saginaw County Democratic Party, hadn't heard anything about it. She was concerned with a lot of the Republican names that came up when you look deeper into Back the Blue.
Editor's note: Quotes in this article have been edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the full interview near the top of this page.
Further reading: "Here’s the hubbub about Back the Blue, Saginaw’s ballot item you may not know about" by Justin Engel for MLive
