Kalamazoo City Ordinance Enforcement in Bronson Park
Does the city of Kalamazoo have the authority to enforce its ordinances in Bronson Park?
Last Wednesday evening, an unhoused person approached me and shared that he had been issued a ticket for allegedly using a power outlet in Bronson Park to recharge his cellphone. The next morning, I checked the Kalamazoo County 8th District Court calendar. He is one of eight defendants with misdemeanor criminal arrangements at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 6 at the Michigan Avenue Courthouse for alleged park rules violations. The court record shows that Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers Christopher Brouwer (4 citations), John Maney II (3 citations), and Joseph Gonzalez (1 citation) conducted two targeted, ordinance enforcement sweeps of Bronson Park on Thursday, June 22. They issued five (5) citations for power outlet use, 2 citations for "SLEEP/LAY ON IMPROVED SURFACE", and 1 citation for "CAMPING IN THE PARK".
Further inspection of the 8th District Court calendar shows that:
Five (5) people have misdemeanor criminal arraignments TODAY for alleged park rules ordinance violations. Four of those citations were issued by Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officer Joseph Gonzalez and the other was issued by Christopher Brouwer. These are sequential case numbers 2305629OM, 2305630OM, 2305631OM, and 2305632OM, plus case number 2305570OM. Sequential case numbers indicate that they were all part of the same ordinance enforcement sweep.
One person has a misdemeanor criminal "SC" arraignment at 9 a.m. on Friday, July 7 for alleged park rules and interfering with public safety officer ordinance violations. This is case number 2305212OM.
One person has a misdemeanor criminal arraignment at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 11 for an alleged park rules ordinance violation. This citation was issued by Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officer Christopher Brouwer. The case number is 2305677OM.
The city of Kalamazoo's authority to enforce its ordinances in Bronson Park is questionable. This is because Kalamazoo County owns the land (screenshot above) and Kalamazoo City rents it. Kalamazoo County has owned Academy Square and Jail Square, now known as Bronson Park, since town founder Titus Bronson donated the land in 1831, as part of his effort to get the village of Bronson (now Kalamazoo) designated as the county seat. The village of Kalamazoo, and later the city of Kalamazoo, has rented Bronson Park from the county of Kalamazoo since 1854.
I don't know where this is written (maybe somewhere in the Michigan Constitution?), but there is a principle that cities don't have the authority to enforce their local laws (ordinances) upon land belonging to other government entities, such as Kalamazoo Public Schools, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and the Kalamazoo Public Library. Western Michigan University has for decades been the most flagrant violator of city of Kalamazoo ordinances, frequently asserting their constitutional autonomy.
Recently retired Kalamazoo City Attorney Clyde Robinson has made reference to this fact. In the above letter from February 14, 2014, Clyde states the reasons why the city of Kalamazoo wants to acquire ownership of Bronson Park. One of these reasons "is to eliminate the confusion on the part of public concerning which governmental body has jurisdiction governing ... enforcement of applicable ordinances and park rules".
Getting a court to resolve this debate will be somewhat difficult. Clyde Robinson had been the Kalamazoo City Attorney since 2008. During his tenure, he's said that all ordinance prosecutions have been resolved through plea bargaining, except for one where the defendant refused to plea and insisted upon a jury trial. In order to resolve this question, a defendant has to refuse a plea deal and be willing to proceed to a trial. That's a pretty big risk, considering the attractive terms of most plea deals, which can include dismissal of the charge under delayed sentencing deals.
If I were a defendant cited for a park rules violation in Bronson Park, I would refuse a plea deal and ask for a bench trial. Because these are misdemeanor criminal charges, the city of Kalamazoo would have to prove my guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That's the highest burden of proof. Because the city of Kalamazoo's authority to enforce its ordinances in Bronson Park is questionable, I think I could establish reasonable doubt that would cause the judge to issue a ruling of not guilty. Once that precedent was established, the city would know that its ordinances are unenforceable in Bronson Park. That would hopefully stop the city from harassing the unhoused, though I'm not confident that the current city administration would do that.
In the meantime, the Kalamazoo City Commission should direct City Manager Jim Ritsema to immediately cease the targeted harassment of unhoused people that began on Monday, June 5. Failure to comply would be an act of insubordination and a reason to terminate his contract for cause.
If elected to the Kalamazoo City Commission on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, I'd seek to amend ordinance section 33-24P, which states:
No person shall use an electrical outlet found within a park unless such use is expressly authorized by the City.
I would add the following sentence to that:
This section shall not apply to devices that draw 60 watts of power or less.
The typical cellphone draws 5 watts. A laptop computer draws 20 to 30 watts. In the incandescent light bulb days, most bulbs drew 60 to 100 watts. So, a 60 watt maximum should permit virtually all personal electronic devices. That would deny the police this reason to harass the unhoused, while still protecting the city's power outlets from excessive industrial use.
UPDATE - THURSDAY, JULY 6: I visited Judge Santoni's courtroom for arraignments this morning. Other than the park rules violations, most of the arraignments were for various drunk driving charges. Four of the 8 people with park rules violations showed up for their arraignments this morning. They all plead not guilty and have pre-trial conferences in 12 days on Tuesday, July 18 at 8:30 a.m. (Judge Santoni misspoke and said that one was on September 18). They were all released on $500 personal recognizance bonds. That means if they don't show up to the court on July 18, they'll owe the court a $500 fine, unless they have a good excuse, like being in the hospital. As part of their bond conditions, they're prohibited from being in the parks where they allegedly committed the offenses (3 for Bronson Park, 1 for Arcadia Creek Festival Place). If they enter the parks during the next 12 days, they risk a new criminal charge of trespassing, plus a bond violation charge. When they plea deal with the city prosecutor on July 18, I'd argue that being trespassed from the parks for 12 days is sufficient punishment and the prosecutor should agree to dismiss the charge without further obligations (such as fines, community service, probation, or a delayed sentence). Judge Santoni is pretty laid back. He didn't say anything about several of us wearing shorts and hats, which are violations of courtroom etiquette.
The other 4 defendants didn't appear today. They've all been scheduled for show cause arraignments on Friday, July 21 at 9:30 a.m. In the past, failure to appear for an arraignment (or any other court date) would have resulted in a bench warrant for their arrest. The next time police made contact with them would have resulted in an arrest and about 24 hours in jail, while they awaited video arraignment on the original charge, plus the bench warrant. In the past, the court didn't allow "walk-in" arraignments. If you had a bench warrant, you had to turn yourself in to the police and spend time in jail, until they can video arraign you. That seems to have changed. When I was in court this morning, there were several walk-ins, with charges dating back as far as September 2022. Issuance of the bench warrant versus scheduling of a show cause arraignment must be up to the judge, depending upon the severity of the charge, with lesser charges getting the show cause arraignment. Of today's four no-show park rules defendants, the court clerk messed up on one and initially entered "BENCH WARRANT ISSUED-FAILED TO APPEAR". That was corrected to "SCHEDULED FOR SHOW CAUSE/ARRAIGNMENT". So, I guess it's conceivable that it might be better to not show for an arraignment on petty charges, and force the city prosecutor to first "show cause" to the judge that these cases are worth prosecuting.
In addition to the arraignments listed above, here are more "PARK RULES" ordinance violations that have been filed with the court since Independence Day:
Wednesday, July 12 at 8:30 a.m. - 7 more cases involving 5 defendants (one person was charged with 3 different park rules violations). Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers Spencer Straka (3 tickets), Emily Hahn (2 tickets), Christopher Brouwer (1 ticket), and Matthew Gernaat (1 ticket) wrote the citations. On Wednesday, June 28, three people were ticketed for "SLEEPING IN THE PARK" and one was cited for "SLEEP/LAY ON IMPROVED SURFACE". Public Safety Officer Spencer Straka issued the same person all three of his citations: "SLEEPING IN THE PARK", "POSTED HOURS", "ELECTRICAL". All of these cases have been assigned to Judge Tiffany Ankley's court. They are sequential case numbers 2305758OM, 2305759OM, 2305760OM, 2305761OM, plus 2305782AOM, 2305782BOM, and 2305782COM all issued to the same person.
Thursday, July 13 at 8:30 a.m. - 9 more cases involving 8 defendants. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers Joseph Gonzalez (4 tickets), Emily Hahn (2 citations), John Maney II (2 tickets), and Christopher Brouwer (1 ticket) wrote the citations. On Thursday–Friday, June 29–30, four people were cited for "SLEEP/LAY ON IMPROVED SURFACE", two were ticketed for "SLEEPING IN THE PARK", two for "ELECTRICAL" (using power outlets), and one for "CAMPING IN THE PARK". All of these cases have been assigned to Judge Becket Jones's court. They are sequential case numbers 2305762OM, 2305763OM, 2305764OM, 2305765OM, 2305766OM, 2305767OM, plus sequential case numbers 2305773OM, 2305774OM, 2305776OM.
Monday, July 17 at 8:30 a.m. - 2 more cases involving 2 defendants. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers Joseph Gonzalez and Emily Hahn each wrote one citation. On Monday, July 3, two people were cited for "SLEEP/LAY ON IMPROVED SURFACE". Both cases have been assigned to Judge Santoni's court. They are sequential case numbers 2305728OM and 2305729OM.
Friday, July 28 at 9:30 a.m. - 3 show cause arraignments for the 3 of 5 defendants who didn't appear for their original arraignments on Wednesday, July 5 at 8:30 a.m. On Wednesday, June 21, these defendants were cited for "SLEEP/LAY ON IMPROVED SURFACE", "ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES", and "CAMPING IN THE PARK". These cases are assigned to Judge Becket Jones's court.
If these defendants were to work together, they could all refuse to accept plea bargains and demand jury trials. That request would overwhelm the City Attorney's office and force them to dismiss all 30 or so of these petty cases.
Thank you for reading this article all the way to the end. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Thank you Jeff! I had no idea that Bronson Park was rented by the city .
One question I have is if folks are given warnings before being handed a citation.