James R Fouts

Personal life

Fouts grew up in Hazel Park, Michigan where his father was the city assessor then city manager. He spent his career as a government and psychology teacher in the Warren Consolidated School District. His last approximately ten years of teaching were at Sterling Heights High School.

Early political career

In 1976, James Fouts ran as a Republican for the Michigan state house of representatives in the 70th District. James R. Fouts was elected to the Warren City Council in 1981 where he served for 26 years. During his tenure, he had initiated several anti-tobacco proposals.

In 2007 Mark Steenbergh had reached the term limit as mayor of Warren and did not seek re-election. James R. Fouts ran against City Clerk Richard Sulaka for the open seat and won, 62% to 38%. In the 2007 campaign, finance reports show that Sulaka outspent Fouts $332,000 to $225,000. Sulaka described James R. Fouts as a “maverick” and attributed his victory to voters seeking an alternative to the previous administration. The election also saw Warren citizens electing a new clerk, new treasurer and a majority of new council members.

In 2008, Fouts endorsed Republican John McCain for president.

Mayor of Warren

His enforcement of local building codes led to the demolition of dilapidated buildings and the promotion of neighborhood "clean sweeps" by city inspectors and was touted as a model for other mayors.

In response to the challenges facing the automotive industry, an industry which employs many Warren residents, he initiated a "Buy American Products" policy for automotive purchases by heads of city departments.

His 2011 re-election campaign was endorsed by the Detroit Free Press who said the campaign had become "way too focused on legal battles over Fouts' age" which became an issue when his opponents filed suit to remove him from the ballot because he had refused to place his age on the candidacy form. He won the lawsuit and the election with more than 80% of the vote against City Councilwoman Kathy Vogt.

In 2012 he acted to ban smoking within 100 feet of any city building without legislative approval, but the court said he did not have the authority and had the "No Smoking" signs removed. Fouts brought the measure back to the city council, after they had tabled it in September.

In December 2013, the city settled a whistleblower case for $175,000 in which a former staffer had brought charges that he had been demoted for making recordings that showed Fouts speaking in a threatening manner. The city also paid $47,613 for two private attorneys to defend Fouts. Criminal charges against Fouts had been dropped in May because Fouts's statements "violated no statute and do not form a criminal act under Michigan law."

In July 2014, Fouts denied access to the Warren City hall for a group seeking to establish a Reason Booth, in contrast to a long-established Prayer Booth. The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, have sued Fouts and Warren, alleging a violation of First Amendment rights to free speech and a violation of the Establishment Clause. The lawsuit was filed by Douglas Marshall in the United States District Court.

In August 2014 Fouts initiated a suit against the adoption of 2014 Proposal 1, which eliminated the Michigan Personal Property Tax for businesses, replacing it with an Internet sales tax, alleging the ballot wording was biased. In early December 2014, according to the Macomb Daily, "Court of Claims Judge Deborah Servitto ruled this week Fouts failed to sufficiently make a legal claim that state election law was violated. In doing so, Servitto granted a motion for summary judgment filed in by public relations consultants Truscott Rossman Group and its chief executive officer, Kelly Rossman-McKinney, that they be removed as defendants because they did not have legal standing in the case." Fouts has appealed the ruling.

In March 2016, Mayor Jim Fouts claimed that he was asked by security at the Democratic Presidential Debate in Flint, Michigan to refrain from showing excessive enthusiasm for Bernie Sanders.

2016-2017 audio controversy

In December 2016 and January 2017, a series of audio recordings were provided by Mark Hackel to the media that he claimed to have received from unidentified sources allegedly of Fouts making derogatory comments about women, African-Americans and the disabled. These lead to calls for Fouts resignation. Fouts stated that the voice on the recordings wasn't his and they were part of a smear campaign by Mark Hackel. In a post on Facebook, Fouts declared his intention to remain in office through to the end of his term in 2019.

On March 27th, 2017 the Macomb Election Commission rejected the wording of six potential recall petitions all aimed at the removal of Fouts from office.