A Michigan Supreme Court ruling means an effort to repeal the state's Emergency Manager law will be on the November ballot.
The law will be suspended until the election, giving the mayor a little more power than he's had the past year.
Monday was the first meeting the Mayor has had with commissioners since the ruling.
Benton Harbor Mayor James Hightower says the suspension of the new emergency manager law won't bring a whole lot of change to city hall, because there is a previous law still on the books that he and commissioners still have to follow.
They can make some decisions as long as they have nothing to do with finances.
Hightower says, "Not much has changed with the exception of, for example, if we want to approve the Blossom Parade, we can do that now."
Another change: Committees that fell dormant under the emergency management law can be reinstated. Committees like public service, planning, and communications. That was the first order of business at Monday's Special Meeting.
"The committees are informational. There's a lot of information the community hasn't received over the last several months. And maybe by reinstating these committees, we can raise the level of information being received by citizens," says Hightower.
The council didn't agree on who would be on these committees at the meeting, and that's a big concern for residents who came. They say their leaders need to work together.
"I think it's really important that people come together and have the same mindset. You have to have the same mindset to get anything done," says Benton Harbor resident, Leacie Miller.
Mayor Hightower says he doesn't know whether residents will vote to repeal the emergency manager law, but if they do, the city will be in better position to take the reigns back once these committees are working again.
