When Donna McPherson of Lansing received an automated phone message alerting her that a "snow emergency" had been declared and that "non-essential" travel had been banned, she said it raised a question.

McPherson said her family talked about whether Lansing police would pull over drivers and ask them why they were driving.

In the midst of the winter storm this week, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero declared a snow emergency, which prohibited "non-essential" commercial, private and public travel on city roads.

It raised questions about how much authority the government should have to ban travel during bad snow storms.

In Indianapolis, Mayor Greg Ballard declared a "red" travel emergency Jan. 5 that made it illegal for residents to go out on city streets except in an emergency. Indianapolis also has an "orange" travel emergency that allows for "essential" travel only.

One constitutional expert said cities are within their rights to ban travel on city streets during emergencies.

"There is not much of a constitutional challenge here," said Trevor Burns, a research fellow for the Center for Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute. "Driving is not a right, it is a privilege. The roads are public property and the government can reasonably manage its property for safety. Moreover, obeying such commands is a condition for having license. Now, if they were prohibiting you from driving on your own land then that would be a different story."

McPherson said the automated alert from Lansing was not draconian.

"I am assuming it means, 'if you don't have to, please don't,' " McPherson said. "It seemed like a suggestion."

Lansing city officials did not respond to questions clarifying if the alert was a suggestion or an order.

Randy Hannan, spokesman for Mayor Bernero, didn't respond to numerous voice messages and emails. However, Hannan told MLive that "essential" driving was considered going to work or class or getting food at the grocery store.

When asked whether the authority came from the city charter or an ordinance and if there was any enforcement with the snow emergency, Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope referred to the city's online listing of the charter and ordinances. But there is no mention in those documents of what constitutes "essential" driving or if there was any enforcement of the snow emergency declaration.

Swope said he could not answer whether there are penalties for disobeying the order.

McPherson said if Lansing's restrictions were portrayed like those in Indianapolis she would have been alarmed. "If it became a legal issue," she said, "you'd definitely hear an outcry from the public."

ALLENDALE — By a nearly 8 to 1 margin, the clerical and technical staff at Grand Valley State University voted to break away from the Michigan Education Association and form its own union.

According to the Michigan Employment Relations Commission, which oversaw the election, 235 of the unit's 266 members voted in favor of an independent union, known as the Alliance of Professional Support Staff. Twenty-four voted to stay with the MEA, while 7 chose "neither."

"We have come a long way with the MEA," said Alliance spokesperson Coreen Bedford, "But we stuck to the facts, pointed out the pros and cons of both options, and the votes spoke for themselves."

The MEA represented one of three bargaining units at the Allendale-based campus. The unit formed in 1974, according to GVSU. The other bargaining units include the Police Officer Labor Council, representing public safety workers and AFSCME, representing grounds keepers. 

The move for clerical and technical workers to form an independent union will save members considerable money, Bedford said. While new dues have yet to be determined, Bedford points out that their unit has paid the MEA more than $1 million.

Bedford said members have been watching the proceedings of the "August Window" dispute in Lansing, but she said she thought people's minds were made up long before then. A Senate committee held hearings late last year about the MEA's practice of only allowing its members to leave during the month of August and whether the union tried to hide that information from members.

"It was just another example of how the MEA is choosing to operate," Bedford said. "You have many layers of politics within that group. Even the Uniserve directors admit they don't have much control over what goes on in Lansing."

Teachers in Roscommon left the MEA in 2012 and formed their own local union.

"Across the state teachers, bus drivers, and clerical workers are standing up and taking matters in their own hands," said F. Vincent Vernuccio, director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "They are saying the status quo is not working and they deserve a full choice, not just of payment but of representation." 

Vernuccio points out that in addition to Roscommon, similar actions have taken place involving public school workers in Fennville and Dexter.

"The combination of right-to-work and the threat of decertification will make unions serve their members better," Vernuccio said, adding that many union workers have been simply handed a union card with no say if a union, or which union, should represent them.

Officials from the MEA did not respond to a request for comment.

Editor's Note: This story has been slightly edited since its original posting. The MEA affiliate has paid the union $1 million over several years.