Warren Mayor Fouts seeks fifth term, vows to keep battling council

Warren Mayor James Fouts is seeking a fifth term in office, vowing to continue to battle the City Council, with whom disputes in the recent past have resulted in lawsuits.

"I hope the focus of this election will be about fighting for the priorities of our taxpayers, not about costly distracting, and time-consuming lawsuits by this current council,'' Fouts said in a news release on Sunday. Fouts told The Detroit News that he had filed with the Warren City Clerk's Office to officially run for reelection for another four-year term.

One issue is whether he is eligible to run for a fifth term after city voters approved term limits that would prevent that. Fouts dismissed that.

"We have a legal opinion that the Election Commission and the clerk accepted. I really don't want you to get into that now, if you can just do the announcement," Fouts said.

Fouts has at least three competitors, including two Warren City Council members and a Macomb County Board commissioner. Warren mayor pro tem and City Council president Patrick Green and council member Ron Papandrea have declared their candidacies. Macomb County Board of Commissioner Michelle Nard also is running. State Rep. Lori Stone, who reportedly is a candidate, could not be reached for comment Sunday.

In two separate years, the City Council has filed lawsuits against Fouts over the city budget. In 2022, a lawsuit contended Fouts relied on a proposed mayoral budget instead of the budget approved by the council. In 2020, the council sued Fouts for similar reasons, with the lawsuit ending in a settlement.

Fouts said he will continue to pursue a town center, reinvest in the city's parks and provide better overall service to residents.

"My life and my wife is Warren, and that is what I do every day, every week of the year. I enjoy my job and look forward to an even better future," Fouts said. "My focus for many years has always been to serve and protect the citizens of Warren, instead of allowing political dysfunction to set our city back. I will work to ensure that we have a council that shares my desire to serve because together we can achieve anything."

Papandrea said he was running because of the possibility that Fouts may not make in on the ballot because term limits could affect Fouts' eligibility. Fouts dismissed that.

"I saw that no one was stepping forward to take Mayor Fouts place," Papandrea said. "So, I put my name in the race ... in the strong possibility that (Fouts) would be removed from the ballot."

If elected, Papandrea said he would hire Fouts as his deputy "and together we will work for the people."

Green has served on the City Council for the last three terms. He said plans to create more assets in Warren, make City Hall processes more resident friendly and have more family-friendly activities in city parks.

"I've got a 100 day plan for what we want to do .... and those are the basis for in the first four years making Warren a better place for people to live, raise a family, go to school, and retire," Green said.

Nard said she is knows running "will be a challenge and I'm up for the task."

"From our crumbling roads and outdated infrastructure to our empty strip malls vacant homes and businesses, I plan to bring life," she said. "I want everyone who lives in and visits Warren to truly feel safe and to see the cleanliness of our city, from the South to the North. Our plan to establish relationships and partnerships with our neighbors, Wayne and Oakland County will play a key role in making our cities safe.'laguilar@detroitnews.com

mjohnson@detroitnews.com