WARREN, Mich. – In a speech that went on for well over an hour on Thursday, outgoing Warren Mayor Jim Fouts took plenty of parting shots at his political foes.
A city ordinance that Fouts fought against in court bars him from running for another term and he isn’t happy about it.
Fouts spent most of his time at the podium for his State of the City address criticizing city council members and the judges involved in his court of appeals case.
“This is the most hostile council in the history of Warren, that’s why we call it the council from hell,” Fouts said.
His speech started with what the next mayor should focus on.
“We need to do something about state, county, and city roads. We need to have better coordination, it’s chaos, it’s conflict and it’s a mess so if I were mayor again I would make that a high priority,” Fouts said.
Then, just a few minutes into his address, he shifted gears.
“Now I’d like to go to a group of people that I feel obligated to devote some time to and they like attention,” Fouts said. “I want to talk about the dysfunctional city council.”
The Warren mayor then accused the city council of mistreating Black city leaders like the fire commissioner and city attorney. He also called out the court of appeals judges.
“There’s some serious questions about the court and specifically about Mr. Cavanaugh who has been in office for 35 years and said to Jim Fouts ‘You’ve been in office too long,’” said Fouts.
He ended with briefly talking about current and upcoming projects and encouraged residents to stay invested in their community.
“I apologize for the lengthy presentation I apologize for the late start but please whatever you do, go out and vote,” Fouts said.
At the very end of the program, the Warren Chamber of Commerce made the mayor an honorary chamber member.