By: Taylor Christensen | Royal Oak Review | Published November 20, 2025
CLAWSON — A Clawson City Council special meeting caused discussion throughout the council chamber among not only the residents in attendance, but between Mayor Paula Millan, council members, and Mayor-elect Susan Moffitt on Nov. 13.
Clawson voters voiced their distaste for the special meeting, with most saying they wanted the newly elected City Council members and Moffitt to be in charge of making the decisions on the agenda.
The meeting addressed the reappointment and appointment of nine individuals to various boards and commissions and the approval of a contract amendment for City Manager Joe Rheker.
The council voted 4-1 in favor of passing the contract amendment. Moffitt voted no on the matter.
Rheker’s contract was supposed to end in March of 2025, but on Oct. 3, 2023, the City Council amended the contract for four years, taking it to March of 2029, according to the agenda packet.
The city manager requested that his contact be extended to March of 2031, along with a pay out of military compensation days at the end of his employment or upon his retirement from the Navy Reserve. The extension also includes an increased sick leave payout from the current 65% to 100% to equal the treasurer’s contract. The extension changes the “for cause termination” clause payout to match the “without cause” clause; this will include the MERS (Municipal Employees’ Retirement System) retirement financial contribution as well as that year counting toward vesting. And finally, the city will be responsible for any shortfall of financial contribution and time toward vesting should a termination occur prior to his vesting in January 2027.
“This meeting is so wrong; it’s so wrong for so many reasons. It’s a slap in the face to not only me, but to all the citizens and voters in Clawson, but especially to our new mayor and new City Council,” said Darlene McDaniel, who said she is a Clawson resident of 79 years. “The voters have great confidence with them (the newly elected officials) and they aren’t even given a chance on these matters. I don’t know how any of you sleep at night calling this meeting tonight.”
Michael Stein, from West Bloomfield, practices law in Royal Oak. He stood before the council and shared his distaste for the meeting, calling it “disgusting.”
“You drag everyone in here on a Thursday, everyone has kids, jobs, everything is hard right now. And you drag everyone in here for a special meeting to extend a contract for two more years to 2031 for no particular purpose on top of what else you want to add,” Stein said. “I mean the idea that you would try to jam this through, and you guys all got voted out, is a joke. That is an absolute joke. You guys lost, and you’re going to stick this with another council that’s coming in. You know they have their own agenda. Why would you stick that contract with them?”
Stein said that if the council went through with the vote, it would be making a decision that could create big consequences for the next council.
“I cannot believe you guys would sit up there with these smug looks on your face like you are actually helping anyone. That’s a joke. You guys better take a good look at what you are doing and think about it before you make a vote,” he said. “You keep playing stupid games, you’re going to win stupid prizes. I promise you that.”
Laura Montague, a Clawson resident, said that although many residents were unhappy with the meeting, it was not illegal.
“If there is something going on here that really shouldn’t be allowed now or in the future, change the rules people. It doesn’t mean anything. You know what, that’s just the way it is,” she said. “You can sit here and go on and on and back and forth and do all of the name-calling you want, but you must change the rules. This is a lame duck council, and lame duck presidency, but it doesn’t matter; they are still in the job and they can still do as they see fit for the city.”
During the discussion about the city manager’s contract, Millan explained her support for the changes to Rheker’s contract.
She said that throughout her eight years on the council, she has seen city managers come and go, and it has not been easy keeping one in Clawson.
“Getting a city manager to want to come to this community, as lovely as it is with such lovely people who are here tonight, is really difficult, extremely difficult, when you have people who are not necessarily — who want to do what they want to do,” she said. “I think this election and what we have seen on the dais for the past two years tells us that a willingness to work well with others is not necessarily in the cards for Mr. Rheker, and I think we as a community have worked really hard, we as a council have worked really hard, to put stability back in play here.”
Millan went on to say that if they did not move forward with Rheker as the city manager and bring someone new in, that would “probably” cost the city around $250,000.
“I think most of us in this room would say our city is far better today than it was four years ago, and we are on an extremely solid footing, and we want to maintain that. We will not maintain that if we start the cycle of open door city managers again,” she said. “People are entitled to their opinions; they are entitled to their passion. I have no problem with any of that. I take every hit you want to throw at me, I’ve done it for eight years.”
Millan said that although the residents are entitled to their opinions, it is not fair to berate Rheker about his job, as it is his livelihood.
“This is his professional job. This is not his, ‘I’ll do it on Tuesdays for not a lot of money for fun job,’ and you guys should respect that, and I feel like that might not be respected,” she said.
“The most fundamental obligation of elected officials is to work with integrity and protect the city and to respect the voice of the citizens. None of these provisions are in the city’s best interest,” Moffitt said. “They perhaps are in the city manager’s best interest, but they are not in the best interest of the people that are here tonight, and the people that voted, and the people that pay taxes for the city.”
“Miss Moffitt, you started that so great because you said one of the greatest obligations we have is to ‘work with,’” Millan said. “If I thought on any stretch of an imagination that you had the capacity to work with our city manager, I wouldn’t even test …”
At that point, Millan was interrupted by an uproar from the crowd.
“The majority of the people in this community believe that I am the person, not you, who’s best positioned to work with and respect the voice of the people of this community,” Moffitt said. “That’s the voice of the people.”
“I hear those people, and there’s not a world where you’re best. … If I trusted that you would work with, we wouldn’t have as many issues, but we have it on tape time and time again that you have refused to work with, and the people who support you also refuse to work with,” Millan said. “It is incumbent upon this council, the next council and the following council to ensure the stability of this community, and an open door of city managers will not provide stability.”
“Theres nothing about anything that has happened tonight in this meeting that suggests that you are willing to work with anyone or put the interests of the city first,” Moffitt responded.
Council member Bruce Anderson said that prior to the meeting he received multiple negative emails about the meeting.
“I am very impressed with how Mr. Rheker has handled himself,” Anderson said. “We are looking at the extension of a contract of a city manager. It is germane to discuss his performance. If he was a bum, I would say no, maybe you should fire him, but he’s not a bum. He’s done a very good job. I am sorry some people in the city may not appreciate his efforts, but I do.”
The meeting concluded with the vote to approve the updates to the contract of the city manager.
For more information on the city of Clawson, visit cityofclawson.com.