KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Kalamazoo city commissioners voted to put a proposal for a healthcare advisory committee on the fall ballot and then spent the next ten minutes trashing it.
It turns out the group behind the charter amendment, Community Action Michigan, is located outside of Kalamazoo, and is reportedly funded by a unknown source out of state.
Mayor Dave Anderson says the effort seems to be funded by “dark money” and he isn’t sure what they are trying to do.
Vice Mayor Drew Duncan says the commission was not told this was coming and certainly didn’t request it.
Commissioner Chris Praedel says if the petitioners knew anything about Kalamazoo, they would know that healthcare is the purview of the county, not the city.
A spokesman for the group behind the petitions, Chokwe Pitchford of Berrien County, apologized for not working closer with the commission ahead of time.
Commissioners Jeanne Hess and Alonzo Wilson also voiced concern about the proposed charter amendment.
The commissioners had no choice but to put it on the ballot because the group collected enough signatures to force a city vote, but accused the group of duping residents into signing the petitions.
Today is the state deadline for submitting items for inclusion on the November ballot.
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