PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Portage city council is expected to hang on to one of its responsibilities after rejecting a proposal by their city manager that he assume that authority.
City Manager Pat McGinnis proposed that he handle the appeals when the public safety chief rejects an application for a solicitor’s license. It can happen if the door to door salesman has a criminal record.
It happened earlier this year, and the council felt subjecting the applicant to a public discussion was uncomfortable for everyone.
McGinnis says his compromise is to add an appeal to him as a step, and not the end of the process.
“So in the event the city manager ultimately decides that that denial should be upheld then that applicant could still appeal to the city council before exhausting their remedies,” he says.
McGinnis says the salesperson who got her license thanks to council intervention is still on the job.
“She’s out there doing good work, she came out of the house just last week and tried to sell me weed control.”
They are expected to approve the amended ordinance for solicitors and another ordinance amending the appeals process for secondhand dealers at this week’s meeting tomorrow.
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