Cityhood not likely to happen in 2022

Village Hall, Village of Manchester

The Village of Manchester continues working toward the process of becoming a city. However, it's not clear yet whether that can happen in 2022. During the past 18 months, in addition to delays because of COVID, the state has been revising the process, which had initially held up Manchester's application as we awaited finalization of the changes.

Manchester submitted its boundary survey, Petition for Cityhood, and voter signed Petitions to the State Boundary Commission (SBC) on Nov 3, 2020.

On March 4, 2021, the SBC held a ZOOM meeting for a mandated Public Hearing, which was attended by some citizens, in addition to Village and Township representatives. On August 25, Village Manager Jeff Wallace, Village President Pat Vailliencourt, and Trustee Pat DuRussel, trekked to Lansing for a meeting of the State Boundary Commission for a review of the "legal sufficiency" of all the documentation that had been submitted. The documents were deemed to be sufficient, and the paperwork was sent to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) for the chair's signature.

"We understood this would be a fairly quick process," said Pat Vailliencourt, Village President. "We have been following up with the state to determine a reason for the delay."

As it turns out, Village Clerk Julie Schaible learned there had been some legal challenges to the languages in the revised process, so the LARA signature has been held up until that issue is resolved. "As frustrated as we are with how long it is taking, we recognize that it is much better to have these legal challenges resolved prior to us proceeding," Vailliencourt said.

"The Michigan Municipal League has been following our progress (and lack of)," she added. "Other Villages that are watching us because they are seriously looking at becoming Cities. The League is planning another training session, using us as the test case."

Meanwhile, the longer the delays, the less likelihood there is of the Village of Manchester becoming the City of Manchester in 2022. Once the signatures are obtained, there are several more steps that need to be taken. First, the election of a Charter Commission must be held. Since petitions for a May municipal election must be submitted by January 18, there will be little, if any, time to recruit candidates for the commission and have them file the required signed petition and paperwork. That will likely postpone the election of a Charter Commission until at least November.

The Charter Commission has 90 days to write charter, which must be ratified by residents; a City Council election would not be able to take place until after that time.

The "silver lining," said Village Manager Jeff Wallace, is that with all of the legal reviews of the process, when Manchester gets through it, there will be no repercussions.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.