Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
During public comment at Wednesday’s Houghton City Council meeting, Jennifer Julien asked for the body to sanction two of its newer members. Julien is particularly disturbed by the actions of Councilor Virginia “Jan” Cole. The problem dates back to a week in early January. On the sixth, Veridea announced it would be stepping back from its development proposal for Lakeshore Drive at a special meeting. On January 10th, it is believed that Cole met with members of the Houghton Waterfront Redevelopment Citizens’ Group to craft a proposal that was presented at a regular meeting of the Council on January 13th. A post on their Facebook page seems to confirm it.
The group was instrumental in helping Brian Irizarry, Joan Suits, and Cole sweep to victory in the council election last November. All three candidates made the parking deck a main focus of their campaigns. In subsequent council meetings, the gathering to craft that proposal was questioned as a potential violation of the Open Meetings Act. That issue is still subject to debate, but Julien and others pointed out that allegations of backroom deals were the exact type of behavior the newer councilors promised to end when they were running for office.
Julien played audio of Councilor Dan Salo questioning Cole about the proposal.
She says that she didn’t think the ethics discussion went far enough later on in Wednesday’s meeting, given Julien’s concerns about Cole’s honesty in her answers.
Julien is a member of the Planning Commission and will be part of the Master Plan revisions carried out by the group. Her business has made a proposal to develop the parking deck and she continues to have a potential financial interest in the space. Julien says her ethics concerns are not related to her economic ones, and that they would exist under any circumstances.
