Saginaw voters approve ‘Back the Blue’ proposal

SAGINAW, MI – The "Back the Blue" proposal that appeared before Saginaw voters on the Nov. 5 general election ballot passed with 69.81% of vote.

A total of 10,735 votes were cast in favor of the proposal while 4,642 residents voted against it.

The proposal directs city officials to reaffirm their support for the city's firefighters and police officers by pledging to continue, among other initiatives, training and equipping them, providing them and their families with life insurance benefits, and promoting crowdfunding websites for the families of officers or firefighters who are injured in the line of duty.

The proposal will have no impact on tax bills and is meant to counter the "defund the police" movement which emerged out of the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May of 2020.

The proposal on Saginaw ballots reads as follows:

"Shall the Charter of the City of Saginaw, Michigan be amended by adding a new Chapter XIX, Section 1, to state that 'The proposed Back the Blue Public Safety Priority City Charter Amendment, if adopted, would honor, better protect, and provide victim compensation for Fire and Police Officers, Emergency Medical Technicians and other First Responders, and their families.'"

The Saginaw City Council voted 6-3 in August to put the proposal on ballot on the Nov. 5 ballot after an organization, Back the Blue, secured the 1,897 signatures from residents needed for the city to consider their petition.

Related: Here's the hubbub about Back the Blue, Saginaw's ballot item you may not know about

Back the Blue failed to get a similar proposal on ballots in Grand Rapids for this election.

Saginaw lawyer Gregory C. Schmid, a member of the Michigan arm of Back the Blue, said the proposal is meant to advise city officials rather than impose a mandate.

"There's nothing in it that compels (Saginaw leaders) to do any actions; it's not the sort of thing that one has to try to enforce in court," Schmid said. "The intent of it is to show that people want the city's governing body to side with police, not criminals, and to do the things suggested in the body of (the proposal) and other things to focus on recruiting and retaining police in the future, as opposed to treating them like second-class citizens, which some cities are doing."

A retired Saginaw firefighter and the current chair of the Saginaw County Democratic Party, Aileen Pettinger, voiced her opposition to the proposal after she initially heard about it, citing her concerns regarding Back the Blue's ties with conservative groups such as America First Works.

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