Meeting held about Buchanan Mayor

 

BUCHANAN, Mich. -- A motion proposed for approval by Buchanan City Commissioner Dan Vigansky, based on a complaint made by a Buchanan resident, to hold a public hearing on the actions of Buchanan Mayor Sean Denison, was shot down Monday night.

Three of the four commissioners on the board outside of Mayor Denison, did not announce their support for the passing of the proposal.

The proposed public hearing was in response to a formal complaint made by Carla Jackson Johnson, a Buchanan resident, at a commissioners meeting in January about Mayor Denison's decision to suspend former City Manager, Ben Eldridge.

Jackson Johnson claims that by suspending Eldridge, Mayor Denison was violating the Buchanan City Charter and overstepping mayoral authority.

Prior to voting on whether or not a public hearing would be held, commissioners voted to allow the public release of a memorandum, crafted by Kotz Sangster Attorneys and Counselors at Law. This memorandum holds the legal opinion that Mayor Sean Denison acted within his rights as mayor, and did not break the city code of conduct, or city charter.

That memorandum is expected to be posted to the Buchanan City website in the coming days.

At the end of the commissioners meeting during mayoral comment, Mayor Denison revealed that an email chain that allegedly contained several examples of various local residents colluding against him had been accidentally attached during an email conversation with a Buchanan business owner.

His full statement about both the allegations made against him as well as his response to the email chain is attached below.