Letter to Lindauer, p 2

2) Are there bylaws for the operation of the DDA and if not, why not? According to City of Chelsea Ordinance No. 97, § 2.006, 10-15-1985, Sec. 12-45 “The board of the authority shall develop and approve bylaws for its operation. The bylaws and any amendments thereto shall be filed with the city council and if the city council takes no action on said bylaws of amendments thereto within 30 days after filing the same, said bylaws or amendments thereto shall be deemed approved.”

3) According to Act 197, “The business which the board may perform shall be conducted at the a public meeting of the board held in compliance with the open meetings act, 1976 PA267 MCL 15.261 to 15.275…“The board shall adopt rules consistent with the open meetings act…”This seems to say that they are required to comply with the Open Meetings Act. We want confirmation from the City that this is true and that they are held to this requirement as we have witnessed what we believe to be violations of this Act during DDA meetings. We also have concerns that the DDA is not complying with the City Ordinance with regards to their meetings.

4) According to the Act, “Members shall be appointed by the chief executive officer of the municipality, subject to the approval of the governing body of the municipality.” What is the written process by which new members are appointed to the DDA? How does the City ensure that there is a fair process involved in choosing new members that allows all interested businesses an opportunity to serve on the DDA in order to bring fresh ideas to its operation?

5) According to the Act, “of the members first appointed, an equal number of the members, as near as is practicable, shall be appointed to 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, and 4 years…Thereafter, each member shall serve for a term of 4 years.” What are the written term limits for members of the DDA, are these limits enforced and by whom? If there are not term limits we feel that this is a very necessary addition and one required by the Act.

6) What is the written process by which potential new members qualifications are reviewed? How does the DDA and the City choose its new members? We have observed that there is very little turn over in the membership of the DDA and feel this is not appropriate and does not comply with the Act.

7) What is the written process by which the City ensures that the DDA has public accountability since they are using City tax dollars to act upon their decisions?
From our observations, there doesn’t seem to be any public accountability for their decisions and actions as they were able to ignore the over 700 signatures we collected from the public stating they did not want the Livery and Daniels Showroom buildings torn down.

8) Where is the site plan for Plan B (and any necessary amendments that have been made) for the Longworth Complex and when will it be made available to the public for review?