Warren Mayor James Fouts Praises City Council For Approving 3 Important Items

Warren Mayor James Fouts praised the Warren City Council members for approving the “three important items.” At its February 12 meeting, city council approved Fouts proposal to toughen penalties for landlords who don’t keep up their properties.

Jail time for negligent landlords is now part of the city’s rental inspection ordinance. “Instead of community service time or a slap on the wrist with a fine, let’s make the penalty something they will remember,” said Fouts.

The second item approved by city council was to allow Warren residents to create Christmas displays over city sidewalks with a city permit but no city permit fees. “Before the ordinance changes, these displays were not allowed. Now residents can celebrate the holiday season with sidewalk decorations without fear of violating any city ordinance,” said Mayor Jim Fouts in a statement.

The third item was approval of an investigation of a fraudulent citizen’s petition that sought to rescind a voter referendum that extended term limits for mayor two additional 4-year terms. After the City Clerk’s Office checked the signatures on the petition, it concluded that the petition drive did not have the required number of valid signatures.

“Most of the signatures were invalid for a number of reasons, and the group circulating the petitions had a questionable background,” Mayor Fouts stated, adding that “I call this ‘dark money’ trying to influence Warren voters.”

Warren Mayor James Fouts also stated that the investigation results “should discourage this from happening anywhere.”