Marine City commissioner plans to sue the city after being arrested at commission meeting

Marine City ― A Marine City official arrested after attempting to speak during the public comment portion of a meeting last week and refusing to leave the podium said he plans to pursue legal action against the city.

City Commissioner Mike Hilferink said he's been in contact with a civil rights attorney through a third party. He said the lawsuit would primarily focus on how the city allegedly violated his First Amendment rights by prohibiting him from speaking during public comment.

Hilferink went up to the podium to talk during public comment of the City Commission's Sept. 7 meeting. A disagreement then ensued, as the city attorney and the other commissioners agreed that Hilferink shouldn't speak then. Commissioners typically comment during another section of the meeting called “commissioner privilege."

City Attorney Robert Davis declined to comment on Hilferink's plan to sue the city, saying that it would be inappropriate to comment on that litigation at this time.

Hilferink, who said he wanted to speak at the podium as a private citizen, said it pains him to have to sue his own hometown.

“I hate to take money from my neighbors ― the taxpayers ― and that’s really unfortunate,” he said. “But without this lawsuit happening, I don’t think anything’s going to change, as far as the lack of transparency and just the ongoing violations of rights in this town.”

Hilferink's decision to speak during the public comment period, which he acknowledges he's done before, came as some expressed concerns at the same meeting about him, with one citizen saying that he is “not fit for the job of city commissioner," according a Detroit News review of the meeting.

Davis, the city attorney, told Hilferink that he can’t use the podium to respond to members of the public “under the umbrella of being a public citizen.”

“You can’t use the podium to do what you can’t do when you’re sitting here; don’t you understand that?” Davis asked from the dais. “So I think it’s inappropriate that you’re going to use this opportunity when you have your own opportunity during commissioner privilege.”

Hilferink said he disagrees with Davis' assertion that he was at the podium to respond to the public commenters who spoke before him. He said he was there to raise concerns he had about the city attorney, but he never actually got to speak on those concerns.

A police officer ultimately handcuffed Hilferink and escorted him out of the room. Marine City Police Chief Jim Heaslip told The Detroit News that Hilferink was brought to the police department and issued a ticket for disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor. He faces up to 90 days in jail, a $500 fine or both if convicted.

City Commissioner Brian Ross told The Detroit News over email that he was unable to attend last Thursday's meeting due to an illness, but watched the video of the meeting. He said he feels that he doesn't have the specific context of the meeting to draw from since he wasn't there, but he noted that he has never seen a commissioner attempt to speak during public comment, except for Hilferink.

"In my experience and according to the rules and procedures of the Marine City Commission, Commissioners have ample opportunity to be heard during their Commissioner Privilege. ... Based on what I witnessed in the video, which is the same as you should be able to see, Commissioner Hilferink was not abiding by the rules and procedures, and was not allowing the meeting to proceed," Ross stated.

City commissioner Rita G. Roehrig declined to comment on The News' article, and the other commissioners couldn't be immediately reached.

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