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| Chris Griffith (c) with State Representative John Olumba and counsel Photo: Stephen Boyle |
The People Unite in Resistance
A prior attempt was made October 23 in a meeting with the Wayne County Board of Elections. Mayor Bing's counsel at that meeting was John Pirich who has been showing up in a few significant cases. John Pirich, esq. is the chairperson of the State of Michigan Board of Ethics.Tracking Attorney John Pirich
The fight for the referendum on Public Act 4 escalated through the Court of Appeals and requested time from the Michigan Supreme Court twice in its proceedings. As the final days prior to completing the ballot proposals approached the order from the court to the Board of Canvassers and Secretary of State to set the wording for the ballot was made. It wasn't until the sample ballot was available that many knew what the language for the referendum would be.
The next legal action Attorney Pirich was noticed at in Detroit was as counsel to Roy Roberts, Emergency Financial Manager of Detroit Public Schools who was in court against the Detroit Board of Education subsequent to the August ruling by Michigan Supreme Court to place the PA4 referendum on the ballot. That action suspended Emergency Managers and an opinion by the Attorney General Bill Schuette brought the repealed law Public Act 72 into effect. According to Judge John Murphy financial considerations for DPS would be handled by the EFM Roy Roberts until the results of the November 6 election were known; the Board of Education and appointed Superintendent would be granted power of administration for DPS; differences between the parties would be settled by Judge Murphy in this interim period.
If At First You Don't Succeed ... Learn the Lesson
If any one of the conditions was not met the petition request would be denied.
Those ambiguities were cleared through a series of revised petition requests that were clear and concise. It only took one of the ten subsequent requests to be approved for the recall campaign to begin.
This grassroots recall drive will have six months to collect required signatures for the recall of Detroit's Mayor. After such time an additional filing may be made.
Another Lesson Learned
The predators that circle may be driven off from time to time, but they will continue to circle as long as the prey appears desirable. It is anticipated that Attorney Pirich will be seen fairly frequently as counsel for the State of Michigan interests, including as defense to those elected and appointed officials in the City of Detroit operating on behalf of the state. At some point, we the people need to question why is the Chairperson of the Board of Ethics pursuing the "enslavement of Detroit" by the State of Michigan.For reference:
- Washtenaw: Snyder Recall Wording Clear, The Ann Arbor Chronicle - Apr 30, 2011
- Attorney Pirich served as moderator in 2007 at a session entitled "Tribal Business Advantages and Challenges In Economic Development Ventures" at the Second Annual Great Lakes Tribal Economic Development Symposium "Diverse Tribal Economic Development - A Sovereign Imperative". He is partner in the firm Honigman, Miller, Schwartz and Cohn, LLP, a sponsor of the symposium.
