Point taken. Shhh. Don't tell them. There are nonetheless other workable approaches, and that issue was brought up before the Saginaw Council. In public testimony we are not sworn, and can get a little, shall we say, inventive with our arguments. Between that and other arguments, the proposal was immediately tabled even though it was scheduled for a vote at that meeting. If you are up to speed with the process you might understand. We later went into head to head talks with some council members, who didn't know whether to shit or go blind. In the end they decided to take the simple approach and do nothing. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than right, or good.
BTW. There is this too: [FONT=&]States and state agencies are entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity in federal court,
[SUP][64][/SUP] but local governments have no immunity from damages flowing from their constitutional violations, and may not assert the good faith of its agents as a defense to liability.
[SUP][65][/SUP] Further, state law sovereign immunity and state law limitations on damages do not protect local governments from liability under section 1983,
[SUP][66[/SUP][/FONT]
It is at least enough to give them pause, letting them know we are interested in their bank accounts, and likely a viable option to sue. According to that law, local hayseeds just ain't ready for the big show.
Soo. Are you inclined and capable to pull together an organized effort? By all means, knock yourself out. I'd be glad to see it even if it proves no more than an amusing clown act. There are others who like the shout 'n pout method. You might like to meet Joe Cain. It just ain't my style.
I am and have been working with the issue. Just prior to the grant of leave to appeal by the SC in Ter Beek, a number of us were locked and loaded and on the firing line and ready to squeeze off the first round in an initiative to shut down Flushing's ordinance in the first move to shut the damn things down across the state. Correspondence had been drafted, postage applied, and I had assembled a volunteer legal bar to help work the negotiations and lend some gravitas. The day that first correspondence was to go out the news came out about the appeal. Until it is heard we are treading water. When the opinion is issued we will know which direction to take, and aim to go after the scores of ordinances and moratoria around the state when they fail to rescind those ordinances, presuming they will be nixed and which can be expected. If not we will do whatever is necessary.
And we will laugh.