Judge to Hear Marge Powell Case Oct. 5
Wayne County Circuit Judge Brian Sullivan on Monday set a hearing date of Oct. 5 to determine whether to grant a Dearborn resident’s request to temporarily block the City of Dearborn’s Civil Service Commission from replacing Commissioner Marge Powell with a new member.
We wrote about the court fight on Monday (click HERE for that story).
The court papers filed by Dearborn attorney Morris Goodman make for some interesting reading. Goodman calls into question the May 21 letter Council President Tom Tafelski issued to the City Attorney’s office concerning Powell not taking the oath within 10 days of her May 2009 appointment. According to the court documents, attached to the letter were records of oaths previously taken by Powell and notarized by the City Clerk, which “are questionable.”
“The oath for the term ending June 30, 2009 and for the term ending June 30, 2003 were apparently taken and notarized on the same day — April 22, 2004,” according to the court documents. “It does not make sense that oaths for two different terms would be administered simultaneously. Furthermore, it is also unlikely that a term ending in June 2003 would be notarized in April 2004.”
September 28th, 2010 at 9:54 am
There is nothing new under the legal sun. In the law, there is a term “nunc pro tunc” (now for then). For over two thousand years, minor issues such as the failure to timely or properly administer an oath (think John Roberts with Obama) could be remedied by waving this magic wand, and adopting the legal fiction that the act had been done in a timely manner. The law is well aware that we are people, we screw things up, and that in order to achieve the “right result” we need to have this type of mechanism to take care of the “silly little details.”
And then there is the issue of selective enforcement, which smacks of discrimination or favoritisim.
Mr. Tafelski needs something more substantial to occupy his time.
September 28th, 2010 at 11:02 am
What a joke.
All, anything of this accomplishes, is fodder for blogs, a waste of tax payer money, and a waste of court time.
The City of Dearborn is falling apart. Because of the economy, people are losing their jobs and their homes and businesses are closing every day.
It would be wonderful to see some of this passion go to helping make the city better and helping those who are truly in need.
As usual, it reminds me of listening to Nero play his fiddle while Rome burned.
September 28th, 2010 at 11:57 am
Excellent contribution tdogg. Thanks for clarifying… Bonus points for the Roberts/Obama example.
September 28th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Marge have your boys give it up. The City is going to waste defending themselves against u in this case, and its obvious they don’t want u any longer, simply give it up, and walk away with some dignity. You have served the City well, now walk tall, and not like a cry-baby.
September 28th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
A total waste of time and money.
September 28th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
I agree with tdogg and cloe. While the city should uphold the law, this is a legal matter that can easily be rectified. I thought that months ago, when this story first appeared on this site, that it would never get to the point where this needed to be drawn out, in a court room no less. This is absolutely selective enforcement. In light of the fact that there are others who have failed to take the oath within the allotted time frame, Tafelski cannot honestly say he pursued this solely out of an earnest respect for the legal rules. I guess this was the biggest thing they could pin her on.
Obviously there’s more to this story. The city wants this woman out of there and they will put up the money and time do this. I want to know why she couldn’t take the oath on time, why Tafelski is really pursuing this, and, while we’re at it, why we have people promoted or transferred to other deparments who, one would think, should instead be fired or demoted.
September 28th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
I don’t know Marge Powell, but she seems to be the kind of person that Cloe is describing – an involved individual. I don’t know her politics (probably Dem based on Mr. Goodman’s role) but that seems irrelevant to the issue at hand – shouldn’t this citizen be allowed to serve on this board? The lack of an oath is the definition of a trifling reason. In reality, more of a bite than a waste of time or money. Good luck in court, Ms. Powell.
September 29th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Talfelski wants to control the Civil Service Commission and through it the Human Resources Department, ostensibly to get his cronies hired. Given his well documented dishonesty (see Tafelski vs. Norvartis, United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Cael # 057154, before The Honorable Denise Page Hood, which revealed Tafelski admitted falsifying records and was forced to resign), he is the last person that should be put in such a position. He has no business trying to politicize the Civil Service Commission, a body which by definition must be apolitical. The abuse of Marge Powell by Talfelski to advance his improper agenda is inexcusable. Those complicit in that action should be ashamed of themselves. Tafelski’s character will be vetted before the voters prior to the next election, if not before.
September 29th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Maybe my thinking is pretty simple but… shouldn’t it be the responsibility of the City Clerk to make sure that every elected official is sworn in a timely manner? It should be part of the job.
I have talked to people who didn’t vote for Tafelski’s mother because of him. Let’s hope voters are smarter next time Councilman Tafelski runs for another elected position.
September 29th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Well while we are at it , how about looking into the Chief of Police and the Director of Public Works both are appointed by the Mayor . The city charter states that appointed employees are to live in the city. As Sandy said this is selective enforcement, by the Mayor. I give Talfelski a little credit for trying to correct some of these things, its a start, if Goodman looks deep enough he will find the root of all evil !
September 29th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
I like how tdogg refers to not taking an oath as “silly little details”,did you ever think that if someone in her position cant remember to take their oath then what else are they forgetting?
If you cant remember to do the one thing that actually makes you a sworn commissioner then why would we want someone like that making other important decisions on other people?????
Its really too bad that John Roberts didn’t make a big deal about obama’s oath because if he did maybe he could have prevented the most reckless and dangerous and incompetent President in the History of our country.
Not to sound harsh but maybe tafelski wants to eliminate the ancient bureaucrats that should have retired 15 years ago,how can we get this city on track and rid it of all the cronies from 2 administrations if everyone wants to just leave them in place and continue the status qua?
I hope after marge, tafelski sweeps out val murphy and in the next election sends the big guy packing!
That is of course if dearborn is even still here.
September 29th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
to tdogg and chloe. Have you ever been to a civil service commission meeting? Talk about a waste of time and money….Why do you need the commission in the first place? Civil Service Rules go back to the 40’s. They are antiquated and not necessary anymore. The HR Director should be appointed by the Mayor with the Council voting on it period.
September 30th, 2010 at 7:55 am
By Stander – I think that I have been misunderstood by a number of readers.
When I said that the whole thing was a farce, I was talking about the entire situation and the law suit.
I agree that the City Clerk should make sure that people take the oath but Ms. Powell is not a new kid on the block. If she has taken this oath many times before in various positions, she should have known better.
As far as Mr. Goodman goes, as a lawyer, he should respect the law as written.
I am tired of people using this situation to take cracks at OUR President. They think that he was the most dangerous president elected. Really? Maybe, they should take a little time studying history. “President” Chaney. was much more dangerous. Under “his” administration, the economy went into the crapper and oil was deregulated so that he and his cronies, all oil men, could make more money.
The economy. poor planning and greedy landlords are the major reason that Dearborn is in the horrible shape that it is. And before you start telling me that it is the current president’s fault, no, it’s not. This depression started way before he took over the mess that was handed to him.
September 30th, 2010 at 9:13 am
TO: Talking Head (SAIEW)
FR: Tdogg
When you look at the substance of a person’s work (and I have never been to a Civil Service Comm mtg, and hopefully never will) and compare it to the act of taking an oath – pretty inconsequential. In my job I see oaths taken daily, and disregarded immediately, “let the perjury begin.” Around the time of Robin Hood, the law was pretty much based on oathswearing contests. We have moved away from that in the last 800 years, to the point where it is a formality. Let’s hope the court treats Ms. Powell’s case in that common sense manner.
Btw – next time you want to avoid someone like Obama being sworn in, I recommend nominating candidates who will get a majority of the votes. That really helps.
September 30th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
“I am tired of people using this situation to take cracks at OUR President. They think that he was the most dangerous president elected. Really? Maybe, they should take a little time studying history. “President” Chaney. was much more dangerous. Under “his” administration, the economy went into the crapper”
Actually, I think the housing market was doomed as a result of what the second worst president in American history, the peanut farmer, did by making it possible for anyone who felt like they wanted to own a house or houses to be able borrow someone else’s money to buy one without ever intending to pay it back.
September 30th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
The whole point to the civil service commission is for them to do the dirty work for the administration so that they can distance themselves from it and claim objectivity. They are a group of phonies who just do what they are told by the mayor,i dont think they have ever turned down any wage increases for management.I wish they would break up the commision so atleast the Mayor would be forced to own up to setting up all of his cronies instead of having the puppet commission do it for him.
Hey CLOE i wish you would actually learn real history instead of the propaganda that the liberals use to try to re-write history. When Bush left office unemployment was at 5 percent and the debt was around 10 trillion,once Obama took over we know have 10 percent unemployment and over 12 trillion in debt lol
In 19 months obama has spent more money than all of the presidentsbefore him combined.
The crash of 2007 took place while there was a democratic congress that is on tape saying that the housing market is strong they dont forsee a crash.
The crash resulted from bill clinton caving into pressure from activist groups like jesse jackson and al sharpton claiming it was racist that the banks werent giving enough loans to minorities eventhough they didnt have credit or couldnt afford it. The banks were forced to hand out loans basically to anyone from that point on and it took 10 yrs for it to catch up to all of us.
Every honest economist will tell you that at the end of bill clintons term the economy was already in a major down swing,so President Bush dealt with it and not once cried about inheriting it from bill clinton.
This past summer bill clinton admitted that he felt responsible for the housing crash beacuse of some of the legislation he regrets signing.
I would love to hear what dangerous policies you claim that were bush and chaney’s?
Do you mean those dangerous policies of killing terrorists?
Over his 2 terms bush left office and created nearly 5 million jobs and waged 2 wars, that totalled 850, billion total over 7 years.
In 2 years obama has not created a single private sector job and in a stroke of a pen spent over 1 trillion dollars,thats more than an entire 7 year war and we have nothing to show for the trillion dollars.
So there is factual reasons why people say obama is dangerous,i would love to hear facts from you cloe.
Tdogg,i agree with your point about having a stronger candidate,but at this point i really think anyone can run against obama and will win this time around.
October 3rd, 2010 at 7:34 am
The Marge Powell incident will be settled in a court of law, as is all important aspects in cities where a signature for an oath is questioned. For years we could contest this issue and it could reach the Supreme Court for a final resolution. Then there could be an end to this horrific situation. Not signing an oath of office is only second to deliberately running a stop sign in front of the police station. Who will win? The council president, the council president pro-tem, the mayor, Marge Powell, attorneys, taxpayers. The major newspapers and other media will soon pick this up, on an off day, and it will be fodder for more tabloidism. We all know how important this is when the Press and Guide runs this story on the front page. I, personally, follow the preachings of President John F. Kennedy, “It’s not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. It just goes to show you, never volunteer for anything. But if you do, be sure to swear for , to, or at somethinng…..then sign the paper swearing you did, even if it might be a year later.
October 4th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Does anyone here realize that the words “and the charter of the City of Dearborn” was removed from the oath during the last adoption of the City Charter.
October 7th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Millwood, that is interesting. So the oath, administered according to the Charter, dropped the reference to the charter…
October 10th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Quite an interesting exchange. SameAsItEverWas…well said. As John Adams said, “Facts are pesky things.”