Port Huron’s City Manager is pushing back against an alleged violation of the state’s COVID-19 orders that were issued early in the pandemic. Last October, the city received a $6300 fine from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Port Huron City Manager James Freed says the city decided to fight that citation rather than settle, because the city was in compliance with the state’s orders.
“We were never going to plead guilty to something we didn’t do,” said Freed. “This is about right and wrong, this was about principal. Our workers did an amazing job, we didn’t have employee to employee transmission of COVID.”
The compliance officer from MIOSHA was deposed in front of the city’s attorney last month and admitted that he saw no violations of COVID-19 protocol inside city hall. Freed told WPHM the city likely spent upwards of $10,000 dollars fighting the alleged violation, saying it was the right thing to do. The case has since been dismissed.
