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Commissioner Jay Kilgo suggested AI-enabled devices that record public meetings and post a transcript.
At the most recent Legislative Policy Committee Meeting, Commissioner Jay Kilgo suggested the city use AI-enabled recording devices for public meetings. The idea was offered during discussion of Muskegon's virtual attendance policy for public meetings. The Owl, an AI-enabled device, was mentioned by name. It allows for 360-degree audio and video recording, so meetings could be broadcast live, while creating accompanying transcripts. Kilgo suggested these recordings could be archived directly on the city's website.
Owl device overview
Currently, only City Commission regular meetings, work sessions, and Planning Commission meetings are broadcast live and recorded. The
One commissioner raised air-quality concerns about backyard campfires. Staff said a total ban would be hard to enforce.
Fire ban discussion at Sept 23 LPC meeting
At the September 23 Legislative Policy Committee meeting, Commissioner Kochin asked fellow commissioners whether the city should ban campfires because of air quality. The Legislative Policy Committee is usually attended by all seven city commissioners, yet the meeting is not live-streamed or recorded by the city. The following recording was made by a resident who attended the meeting virtually under the city's Virtual Public Participation Policy.
Fire ban discussion
During discussion, City Manager Seyferth explained the city already limits where a backyard fire can sit and what can be burned. Enforcement of a total ban would be complex
Commissioner Katrina Kochin asked the manager to elaborate on the site. The packet had no map, address, or legal description.
Commissioner Kochin seeks information missing from the agenda packet
Commissioner Katrina Kochin was the only no vote on the $730,200 state grant for 2.15 acres next to Hartshorn Park. She asked the manager to elaborate on the property. Manager Seyferth and Mayor Johnson took turns describing the parcel: the grassy area east of Fricano's, the driveway from Western Avenue to Hartshorn, a portion of the adjoining parking lot, and a stretch of bike path the city sold nearly a decade ago as part of Hartshorn Village. This deal would bring that stretch back into public hands.
A $246,405 housing settlement, a $730,200 park grant the owner has not agreed to sell, and a wharf report that shows $347,000 spent.
Tuesday's commission meeting puts real money on the consent agenda and a report on the wharf. The items below are ranked by community impact and overall budget. Tap any photo below to visit links with supporting information.
Infill housing brownfield amendment — Infill means building houses on empty lots already inside the city, instead of new land at the edge. A brownfield plan lets a developer get reimbursed from the new property taxes those houses create. This amendment covers that program, about 555 parcels. It also records a $246,405 settlement with West Urban Properties, the company that was supposed
The Purple Heart goes back to George Washington, who created the Badge of Military Merit on August 7, 1782. National Purple Heart Day is observed on the same day. Next Tuesday's document would let Mayor Johnson proclaim Muskegon a Purple Heart Community and mark August 7 as Purple Heart Day.
While the documents in the agenda packet name no Purple Heart recipients, Muskegon does have them. Joseph Beyrle was born here on August 25, 1923, jumped with the 101st Airborne on D-Day, and is the only known American to have fought in combat for both the U.S.
In 2020, Ken Johnson said $195,000 in gift cards was spent the wrong way, and he asked for an outside audit. In 2026, he voted to let the city manager spend about $2.8 million on Third Street Wharf without bringing each job back to the Commission for standard approval.
Does Mayor Johnson still embrace RADICAL TRANSPARENCY?
This is the same man, six years apart, looking at the same kind of problem and doing the opposite thing.
In 2020, Ken Johnson was a city commissioner, not the mayor. Then-city manager Frank Peterson had spent $195,000 on gift cards from local restaurants to support them during pandemic lockdowns. That money came out of a city fund, and the Commission never voted on it. The city attorney, John Schrier, said that spend was not allowed. Johnson's answer was to ask for an outside audit, which means a person who does not work for the city goes
