Kalamazoo’s healthcare charter proposal would have a city panel track how lawmakers vote, and the mayor questions who is paying for it

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A charter amendment on Kalamazoo’s Nov. 3 ballot would create a seven-member citizens’ committee to write a Healthcare Action Plan every two years, and one of its required tasks would be reporting how the city’s state and federal lawmakers voted on health policy.

The proposal reached the ballot by petition from City Action Michigan, a group its spokesperson told WMUK was formed in April for the purpose. Matching measures are on ballots in Portage, Benton Harbor, Lansing and East Lansing, and absentee voting has already begun, the station reported Thursday.

What the amendment says

The measure would add a Section 200 to the city charter. The City Commission would appoint the committee’s unpaid members to staggered three-year terms, choosing people “such as healthcare workers, uninsured or underinsured community members, public health professionals, patient advocates, and organized labor,” according to the petition text the group posts online.

The committee would hold several community forums a year, gather data on health costs and access, and deliver its plan to the commission by Oct. 1 of every even-numbered year. The commission would have to publish it and hold a special meeting by Oct. 15 to review and adopt a plan.

The plan must spell out “how federal and state elected officials who represent the City voted on relevant policies, including budgets and legislation,” and measure their actions against the previous plan, the text says. It would also recommend steps the city and those officials could take.

The mayor’s objections

Mayor David Anderson told WMUK the commission first heard of the effort when stacks of signatures arrived at the city clerk’s office. He objects to putting the committee into the charter permanently and said it could cost the city in the low six figures if it passes.

Anderson called City Action “a dark money-funded group” and said he doubted its motives. “What kind of stuff could be coming our way from someone who might have a political agenda and just wants to amend charters,” he said. Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad told the station in an email that he could not encourage residents to vote yes.

State campaign finance records show $1.4 million in contributions to City Action from three out-of-state organizations, WMUK reported. The largest, CityScope Inc., has no public financial filings, incorporation documents or website, the station found. The other two, Global Impact Social Welfare Fund and American Opportunity Action, are 501(c)(4) groups that do not have to disclose their finances. WMUK reported that American Opportunity Action has ties to current and former Democratic officials, including Preston Elliot, who ran Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s re-election campaign.

The group’s Kalamazoo website features a large photo of U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, a Republican in a closely watched 4th District race against Democrat Sean McCann, and says, “Bill Huizenga cut our healthcare to give billionaires a tax break.” Its Lansing and East Lansing sites feature Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, WMUK reported.

What backers say

City Action says the “dark money” label is unfair because its campaign finance reports are public. Spokesperson Ryan Cohn told WMUK the group wants people across the political spectrum to be heard. “We’re focused on connecting the people with their elected officials and bringing about transparency and accountability to our government,” he said.

Barbara Hammon, a former nurse and Texas Township board member who leads the group’s volunteer board, said none of the officials raising concerns had contacted her. She left specific solutions to the committee the measure would create.

Portage’s interim city manager, Adam Herringa, said he takes no position as a staff member, but that the city’s ability to change health care costs is “fairly limited” beyond the coverage it provides its own employees.

Sources:
WMUK, “Healthcare Action Plan ballot measure sparks concern among city leaders,” Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.wmuk.org/wmuk-news/2026-10-15/healthcare-action-plan-ballot-measure-sparks-concern-among-city-leaders
City Action Michigan, Kalamazoo page and petition language, https://cityactionmichigan.com/kalamazoo/
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, “The Art Deco-style city hall, completed in 1930 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.jpg,” Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons, public domain, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Art_Deco-style_city_hall,_completed_in_1930_in_Kalamazoo,_Michigan.jpg

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Tags: Kalamazoo · News · Healthcare Action Plan · City charter · Nov. 3 election · Campaign finance