Warren City Council rescinds lifetime benefits after political trickery

The past Warren City Council thought it had pulled a fast one on taxpayers, but the new council had other ideas.

Just two months before the council members were term-limited out of office in November, they quickly and quietly approved a measure to give themselves and family members lifetime health insurance and dental insurance.

On Tuesday, the new city council voted unanimously to rescind the lifetime benefits.

New council president Patrick Green said the vote was important to restore residents’ faith in elected leaders.

"It was very important for me and everyone up there, and the residents, that we make sure we're spending their tax dollars in the most prudent way possible," Green told The Detroit News after the meeting.

Mayor Jim Fouts, who said he didn’t know about the previous council’s vote until weeks later, had pledged that he would not honor the lifetime benefits, which would have set the stage for a potential legal battle. Fouts called the previous council’s actions “unconscionable beyond my wildest imaginations.”

The previous council members who voted for lifetime benefits were Robert Boccomino, Kelly Colegio, Cecil St. Pierre, Keith Sadowski, Scott Stevens, Steven Warner, and Ronald Papandrea. The only returning council member is Papandrea, who voted Tuesday to rescind the benefits.

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