Council formally OKs probe of Fouts appointee

Jamie Roe allegedly did political consultation work on city time

The Warren City Council voted unanimously to move forward with an investigation of city employee and mayoral appointee Jamie Roe at a special session Tuesday.

The council alleges Mayor James Fouts did not follow procedure when hiring Roe in March of 2020 and that Roe, who is a Republican political consultant, was working in that capacity while on the clock for the city. His position with Warren is listed as “clerical technician” and his salary as $44,000 per year. The position was included in the 2020-21 city budget as approved by the council.

Council Secretary Mindy Moore read a lengthy resolution that included council’s intent to investigate Roe; refer the matter to the Secretary of State to determine if there has been any vi

olation of a 2018 conciliation agreement; and refer the matter to Attorney General Dana Nessel to determine if there were violations of state law and potential misuse of city resources. Moore also included the possibility of taking the investigation to a federal level to determine if Roe violated the 1939 Hatch Act, which sets parameters for civil service employees engaging in political activity. The 2018 conciliation agreement to which Moore referred in her Powerpoint presentation is in place through July of 2022 and was the result of campaign finance violations stemming from Fouts’ State of the City speech event in 2018.

City Attorney Ethan Vinson, who spoke during audience participation because he is not recognized by the city council as its attorney, said only one investigation is necessary. The city council employs Jeffrey Schroder of Plunkett Cooney Law as its attorney.

“With all of the accusations that were discussed tonight, we should be aware of due process,” said Vinson. “Due process is about fundamental fairness and tonight has not been fundamentally fair to Mr. Roe. How many investigations do you want? It seems to me there only needs to be one investigation, if something is found, then refer it to the appropriate agency.”

Declaring the scrutiny of Roe and his activities an official investigation gives council the ability to communicate directly with city department heads regarding the matter instead of going through the mayor to contact them. The inability of council members to contact department heads directly has been a hot-button issue since the new body was seated. The City Charter dictates that all communication with department heads go through the mayor except in the event of an official investigation.

Fouts said last week after the council posted a press release on its Facebook page indicating its intent to investigate Roe that there was nothing clandestine about his appointment and that council had notice of it last year. Moore’s resolution also called for Roe’s hiring to be “null and void until the mayor makes the proper notification to the city council.”

The council is basing its allegations in part on a number of social media posts that were made on weekdays during what council perceives as “normal business hours.”

Councilwoman Angela Rogensues cautioned her counterparts not to draw conclusions without conducting a complete investigation.

“I agree the lack of transparency is incredibly problematic, and I’m glad it was brought forward to this body,” said Rogensues, “however I think there are a lot of accusations about Mr. Roe’s time with a lot of assumptions around what he did or didn’t do, when he did or didn’t do it, and if it was on city time.”

Rogensues said she is the president of a media consulting firm that has many clients who pay them to take over their social media accounts for marketing purposes.

“We are paid to post on their behalf and engage with their audience whoever they may be,” said Rogensues. “I am curious to find out through an investigation if he was actually posting on his behalf or if someone else was doing so because it is not uncommon to have folks do that. Can we confirm that we know he was actually posting on social media accounts himself?”

A Facebook post made to Roe’s Facebook page on March 11 at 2 p.m. announcing he and his wife were forming a political consulting company called Team Roe, and the distribution of a press release with that same information on that day, seems to be the spark for the council’s investigation.

“I’m sure the feds and the state people will subpoena that information,” said Moore. “A criminal investigation is very thorough so I am sure they will find out those things.”

Council President Patrick Green referred to Roe as a “secret employee” and said if necessary, criminal charges will be brought against him.

“If there is something there, there is something there and if there is not, then there is not,” said Green. “But we can’t just let it go. It comes across as corruption in City Hall.”

Roe spoke during audience participation at Tuesday’s Zoom meeting, despite Moore advising him not to do so. He said his work at city hall was not secret and listed several things with which he had been involved including partnering with Forgotten Harvest to provide food baskets to families in need; helping cement the partnership between the city and Wayne State Health to provide weekly COVID-19 testing at City Hall; helping to plan and execute last week’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic at City Hall; and helping with efforts to ensure every Warren resident was counted in the 2020 census.

“I don’t do politics here,” said Roe. “But I do in my interests outside of the city and I have made no secret about that.”

Roe has worked on campaigns for Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller, U.S. Senate candidate John James, and U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer.

Roe called the investigation and the involvement of lawyers “unnecessary” and said the council could have simply contacted Fouts to have his duties with the city explained. He read a Bible passage from 2 Timothy 2: 23-25 which talks about avoiding arguments, being kind to everyone, and gentle instruction leading to a knowledge of the truth.

“In your actions, I am reminded of the scribes and pharisees who trapped Jesus with some technicality so they could destroy him,” said Roe. “I’m certainly not trying to compare myself or the mayor to Jesus; we, like all of you, are sinners. But the tactics are the same. The council has no interest in any other topic other than destroying this mayor and anyone who helps him serve this city.”

Roe then accused the council’s Legal Affairs Subcommittee, which consists of Green and Moore, of violating the Open Meetings Act by not allowing him to speak at their meeting held March 15 at 8:30 a.m. He added council’s posting of the incorrect Zoom login information for its regular March 9 meeting was a violation of the OMA.

“But an eye for an eye makes both sides blind,” said Roe. “You can stop this nonsense but if you continue with this targeting of me, do so with the understanding that I will not be bullied.”

At that point Green muted Roe’s audio because he had reached the allotted three-minute limit for audience comments. Earlier in the meeting, Green expressed concern that because Roe is a Republican political consultant, he might engage in political attacks against locallyelected Democrats State Rep. Lori Stone, State Rep. Nate Shannon, and State Senator Paul Wojno.

“You see enough smoke, there has to be fire,” said Green.

Several residents spoke at audience participation with the majority voicing displeasure with the council’s move to investigate Roe.