YPSILANTI, MI - A proposed Ypsilanti City Council resolution to censure Mayor Amanda Edmonds failed after hours of comments from residents Tuesday night, though a report into funding for a controversial China trip will now go to the Michigan State Police.

City council voted during its Tuesday, April 17 meeting to send to state law enforcement a report on the city's investigation by Plato Law Firm into funding of the 12-day trip taken by Edmonds and three other officials last fall.

The trip to China was described as a fact-finding mission by city officials related to the $150 million to $300 million proposed development in Ypsilanti called International Village, a project that involved financing through foreign investors.

Edmonds, Mayor Pro Tem Nicole Brown, Police Chief Tony DeGiusti and Economic and Development Director Beth Ernat traveled to China from Sept. 21 to Oct. 3 in 2017.

City council voted Oct. 11 to investigate the trip after hearing hours of testimony from the officials involved, and questions arose about how the trip was financed.

The Plato report indicates the funds may have been tied to the developers.

Ernat's contract was not renewed as a result of the report, said City Manager Darwin McClary.

Councilmembers Beth Bashert, Peter Murdock, Brian Robb and Daniel Vogt voted to direct the City Attorney to forward the report to the Michigan State Police's First District Special Investigation Section upon advice from the office of Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney Brian L. Mackie.

Council member Lois Richardson voted in opposition of the resolution; Brown was absent. Edmonds recused herself from the vote.

Explaining her vote, Richardson said the report was not complete as it did not include interviews with DiGiusti and Brown and she was done with the investigation into the China trip.

"I don't want to continue to spend time and money on this issue," Richardson said. "We need to move on, we really need to look at some ways of doing whatever it is we need to do to get some activity on Water Street. As long as we stay bogged down on this, we're not moving forward."

In response, Vogt said the state police as an objective party could determine whether additional investigation is needed, or if charges should be pursued in connection with the trip.

"It's the most appropriate thing to do at this point and the most in the public interest," Vogt said.

The vote to censure the mayor failed with Murdock, Vogt and Bashert voting in favor of the resolution and Richardson and Robb voting in opposition.

Bashert said she has heard from multiple people on both sides of the issue and that the China trip has impacted relationships between public officials, city staff and residents of Ypsilanti.

"It cost the city. It undermined trust in the city. It cost the city and this council time and effort and credibility," Bashert said. "I wish that today the mayor had accepted a little more responsibility in her statement for those lapses. She did not, in my opinion, do anything that was malicious or intentional."

In his comments, Robb said the decision to censure someone for a bad decision was painful.

"Are we going to go back and censure someone for purchasing Water Street? That's where this really gets bizarre," Robb said. "I wish we could just table this forever. The point has been made."

Richardson also pointed out two other members of the trip, DeGiusti and Brown, were also responsible for inquiring about funding for the trip to China and were not facing a censure from city council.

Some residents placed blame on McClary for not overseeing process of securing funding for the trip. And some called for Edmonds to resign during a public comment period that lasted more than two hours.

Others described Edmonds as a scapegoat, and that city council and staff were also responsible.

Andrew L. Fanta, a local attorney, advised caution ahead of the vote on the resolution to censure the mayor.

"It'll give us a black eye and I think it will divide the community," Fanta said, suggesting city council members who had issues with funding for trip to China should have directly contacted the City Attorney's Office to investigate.