Transparency

Meeting Rundown - City of Muskegon Commission Agenda Tuesday Oct 13

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

He used to want the books open. Now he voted to close them.

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.

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

The Missing Minutes — City Staff left big money off the recap

The city recap covered honors, a federal housing report, a Lakeside park, and a school gym. It skipped a $2.8 million wharf vote that lacked agenda packet supporting documents, and two tax deals on the same Clay Avenue building.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

City Manager Jonathan Seyferth's purchasing flexibility at 3rd Street Wharf had no supporting documents in the agenda packet — and the city recap did not mention that it was pulled from consent, the discussion, or the outcome of the vote

City staff put out a short recap of the September 22 City Commission Meeting, claiming residents can "Stay informed on what’s happening at City Hall, without needing to watch the entire meeting." The staff-made recap covers four, relatively inconsequential items in a meeting that ran more than three hours. Check out The Missing Minutes below for

Meeting Rundown - City of Muskegon Commission Agenda Tuesday Oct 13

He used to want the books open. Now he voted to close them.

The Missing Minutes — City Staff left big money off the recap

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

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Popular Tags

Government

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