Latest news with #CheboyganCityCouncil
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cheboygan City Council picks Bedwin to temporarily fill open seat
CHEBOYGAN — The Cheboygan City Council Tuesday night turned to a familiar face to temporarily fill a council seat until a special election can be held. Councilwoman Sierra Oliver resigned from council because she has moved out of the city. Council selected Adam Bedwin to take her place until a scheduled vote in November. Bedwin was elected to council in 2022 and served until he was defeated in last November's election, which saw David Martin, Oliver and LeRoy Ormsbee win seats on the panel. Bedwin was chosen over the other applicant for the position, Stephen Warren, a business agent for the Fraternal Order of Police. Warren started out as a patrol officer in the Cheboygan Department of Public Safety and retired as a sergeant after 33 years. The vote to approve Bedwin saw council members Hayley Dodd, Mayor Brett Mallory, Martin and Ormsbee support the measure while councilwoman Mary Darling was opposed. Darling's motion to approve Warren as the interim member lost with her as the only yes vote. Councilwoman Diane Mills did not attend the meeting. More: Cheboygan City Council welcomes newly elected members in Tuesday meeting Subscribe Check out our latest offers and read the local news that matters to you Darling and Martin praised Warren's credentials. Bedwin's candidacy was criticized by some public speakers who pointed out that he lost in an election held just six months ago. Martin acknowledged the loss but also noted that over 300 had voted for him. Mallory also said Bedwin was familiar with many of the issues facing the city, such as the proposed Cheboygan Commons development. Bedwin, who was inspired to run for council when his basement was flooded after a heavy rainstorm, responded to the critics. "I would say we had a very friendly campaign during the summer. It's hard being the non-local candidate. Some were upset to see me off (of council). I applied with goodwill on the request of the people around me and council saw me fit to put me here," he said. "There is an election in November and until then I will do the job to the best of my ability." Bedwin added that he does plan to run in the November election. He has lived in the city for over six years and is employed as a negotiator for the Michigan Education Association, the public schoolteacher's union. — Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@ This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan City Council chooses Adam Bedwin for open seat
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cheboygan mayor: New rules should help ensure orderly council meetings
CHEBOYGAN — Mayor Brett Mallory wants to ensure Cheboygan City Council meetings are conducted in an orderly manner, and to accomplish that council needed to endorse a set of rules and procedures. The rules and procedures adopted by council earlier this month said meetings will be conducted in compliance with state statutes, including the Open Meetings Act and the city charter. "There were some issues keeping decorum in the chamber, whether it was people speaking out of turn (or) people starting to insult others. They were not listening to me asking them to stop," Mallory said. He said the Michigan Municipal League has put out a document encouraging the adoption of council guidelines. "Any city can run the meeting as they see fit as long as it is operating under the Open Meetings Act, and we are. We haven't really changed anything except there are guidelines out there now," said Mallory. The rules and procedures adopted leave it up to the presiding officer — usually the mayor — to determine if a person is "... disrupting the proceedings, failing to be germane, speaking longer than the allotted time, speaking vulgarities or making inflammatory remarks." That leaves a lot of discretionary power with one person and raises the question about what can be done if that individual abuses that power. "Before I was mayor and until about a year and a half ago there was no reason for any of these rules," Mallory said. "But then some of these problems popped up. I want people to say what they want to. I have kept a loose meeting as long as I could allow free back-and-forth talking. As long as I am here I don't see this as an issue, but council can always change the rules as needed." At the last council meeting, a public speaker questioned whether the three minute time limit on public comments could be more flexible. "This gives the presiding officer the ability to change that as needed," said Mallory. "I try to keep that fair — three minutes for everybody. The only times I can remember going outside of that is if there is something on the agenda where someone in the audience needs to give us information for something that is on the agenda." Are the rules and procedures designed to target councilwoman Mary Darling? "No. I have talked to her about some of the things she has said outside of the meeting. Again the Michigan Municipal League encouraged these rules to be in place and this is a reminder for all of council," Mallory said. More: Cheboygan council tells Darling to reimburse city for payment to contractor Subscribe Check out our latest offers and read the local news that matters to you Mallory has accused Darling of deliberately violating a provision in the city charter which prohibits council members from contacting firms that do work for the city without first notifying the city manager or the mayor. Council approved a motion requesting that Darling reimburse the city $1,125 for the work the contractor did in fulfilling her request. Darling said she only talked with the company one time "for about 20 minutes" and said if city manager Dan Sabolsky had done his job she wouldn't have had to contact the firm. Darling was the only council member to vote against the adoption of the guidelines. — Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@ This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan City Council aims for orderly meetings with new rules
