Dascola v. City of Ann Arbor

22 F. Supp. 3d 736, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68838, 2014 WL 2095362
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedMay 20, 2014
DocketCase No. 2:14-cv-11296-LPZ-RSW
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 22 F. Supp. 3d 736 (Dascola v. City of Ann Arbor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dascola v. City of Ann Arbor, 22 F. Supp. 3d 736, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68838, 2014 WL 2095362 (E.D. Mich. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LAWRENCE P. ZATKOFF, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Robert Dascola’s Amended Motion for Summary Judgment [dkt. 8]1 and the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants City of Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor City Clerk Jacqueline Beaudry (“Defendants”) [dkt. 12].2 Also before the Court is Plaintiffs Motion for Leave to file his First Amended Complaint [dkt. 21]. All three motions have been fully briefed. The parties have indicated that oral argument is not necessary to resolve the pending motions [dkt. 24], Further, the Court finds that the facts and legal arguments are adequately presented in the parties’ papers such that the decision process would not be significantly aided by oral argument. Therefore, pursuant to E.D. Mich. L.R. 7.1(f)(2), it is hereby ORDERED that the motions be resolved on the briefs submitted without oral argument. For the following reasons, Plaintiffs motions are GRANTED and Defendants’ motion is DENIED.

II. BACKGROUND

A. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In the fall of 2014, the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan (the “City”), will hold elections to determine who will serve on the City Council. Plaintiff Robert Dascola (“Plaintiff’) wishes to serve as a member of the City Council. The issue presented in this case is whether the requirements the City places on .potential candidates for City Council — as set forth in the Ann Arbor City Charter (the “Charter”) — may be validly enforced.

Section 12.2 of the Charter outlines the specific requirements a potential candidate for City Council must satisfy before he or [739]*739she may ran for the office. Specifically, Section 12.2 states:

Eligibility for City Office — General Qualifications
SECTION 12.2 Except as otherwise provided in this charter, a person is eligible to hold a City office if the person has been a registered elector of the City, or of territory annexed to the City or both, and, in the case of a Council Member, a resident of the ward from which elected, for at least one year immediately preceding election or appointment. This requirement may be waived as to appointive officers by resolution concurred in by not less than seven members of the Council.

In early March of 2014, Plaintiff obtained nominating petition forms from the City Clerk to run as a Democratic candidate for the position of City Council Member representing the City’s Third Ward. On March 12, 2014, Plaintiff received an email from a member of the City Clerk’s office, informing him that he was ineligible to run as a candidate for City Council in the fall 2014 elections. Specifically, Plaintiff was told that he did not meet the durational residency requirement of Section 12.2 of the Charter. Plaintiff was subsequently told that he also did not meet the voter registration requirement.3 Plaintiffs Amended Complaint and subsequent motions are based on the premise that these Charter requirements are unenforceable.

This is not the first time the provisions of Section 12.2 of the Charter have come before a judge. Both parties agree that, in 1972, the constitutionality of the Charter’s durational residency requirement and voter registration requirement was challenged in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. In a 1972 decision, United States District Court Judge Lawrence Gubow held that the du-rational residency requirement contained in Section 12.2 of the Charter was unconstitutional. Daniel J. Feld, et al v. City of Ann Arbor and Harold Summers, File No. 37342 (E.D.Mieh.1972) (“Feld”). Judge Gubow’s unpublished order explicitly stated:

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED and declared that the portion of Section 12.2 of the [Charter] which requires all candidates for the office of councilman to have been residents of the ward from which they are elected for at least one year immediately preceding their election violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and is, therefore, unconstitutional and void.

Likewise, in Human Rights Party, et al v. City of Ann Arbor, et al, File No. 37852 (E.D. Mich.1972) (“Human Rights Party”), United States District Court Judge Ralph Freeman held that the voter registration requirement contained in Section 12.2 of the Charter was unconstitutional. Judge Freeman’s unpublished order also explicitly stated:

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED and declared that the portion of Section 12.2 of the [Charter] which requires all candidates for the office of councilman to have been registered electors of the [City] for at least one year immediately preceding their election violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and is, therefore, unconstitutional and void.

[740]*740More recently, the validity of the Charter’s durational residency requirement was considered by a state court judge. In the 2003 decision Wojack v. City of Ann Arbor, a Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge granted the City’s motion for declaratory judgment, finding that the Charter’s durational residency requirement for City Council positions was constitutional.

Both parties agree that neither the Feld nor Human Rights Party decisions were appealed by the . City. Further, neither party argues that the Feld and Human Rights Party decisions were ever explicitly overruled, vacated, or modified; indeed, these decisions have never been reviewed or reversed, and thus remain intact. Plaintiff alleges he decided to run for City Council with the knowledge that the dura-tional residency requirement and voter registration requirement contained in the Charter were previously found unconstitutional and void. Plaintiff also alleges that the City informed him the provisions ruled on in Feld and Human Rights Party “are no longer void in light of subsequent changes in federal and Michigan jurisprudence.”

B. ProCedural Background

On March 28, 2014, Plaintiff filed his original Complaint in this Court, alleging the Defendants were improperly and illegally relying and acting upon provisions of Section 12.2 of the Charter. On May 8, 2014, Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to file a first Amended Complaint. Plaintiffs Amended Complaint clarifies that Plaintiff believes Defendants’ attempts to enforce the previously voided provisions of Section 12.2 of the Charter violate his rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and his rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff seeks an order from this Court enjoining Defendants from enforcing the provisions of Section 12.2 of the Charter previously declared unconstitutional and void when determining Plaintiff’s eligibility to run for City Council. Plaintiff also seeks a writ of mandamus, requiring Defendant Beaudry to accept and process any nominating petitions submitted by Plaintiff and determine his eligibility without regard to the voided provisions of Section 12.2. Finally, Plaintiff seeks costs and actual attorney fees incurred in bringing this action.

III. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Fed.R.Civ.P.

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Bluebook (online)
22 F. Supp. 3d 736, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68838, 2014 WL 2095362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dascola-v-city-of-ann-arbor-mied-2014.