The Delta Township board will interview seven candidates tonight to fill a vacant trustee seat.
The board will meet at 6 p.m. at the township administration building, 7710 W. Saginaw Highway. It is scheduled to make a selection at a special meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Whoever is appointed will serve the remainder of Trustee Deanna Newman’s term through 2020. Newman, who resigned, was elected to a four-year term in 2016.
Board members are responsible for adopting ordinances, approving the annual budget, appointing committee, board and commission members. They also hire and oversee the township manager who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Township.
Newman resigned just shy of two years serving on the board, township Trustee Dennis Fedewa said. He said she had family obligations and other work opportunities.
“It was a very honorable reason,” Fedewa said. “We respect that. We are sorry to see her leave.”
Trustee resignations don’t happen too often, Delta Township Clerk Mary Clark said. The last one happened in September 2011.
If the township board isn’t able to fill the vacancy, the township would hold a special election.
“The talent pool in the township is quite deep,” Fedewa said. “Thirty-one people applied, 27 made their case at a board meeting and the board came up with seven candidates.”
The board is scheduled to interview:
- Wendy Bradley
- Fonda Brewer-Williams
- Chad Guerrant
- Douglas Kosinski
- Leo Madarang
- Michael Meddaugh
- Kimberly Tyson
Candidates must be registered to vote in Delta Township.
“You can have someone right out of high school, to someone who has been retired,” Fedewa said.
Once the new trustee is appointed, that person will go through an orientation with either the township supervisor, the clerk or both.
“The orientation will be helpful,” Clark said. “Additionally, the township manager will meet with the new trustee to orient them to the departments in Delta Township, offer a tour of properties, introduce the new trustee to department managers.”
The appointed trustee will join the Delta Township board that consists of the township supervisor, clerk, treasurer and three other trustees.
“They immediately become a voting member of the township board, one of seven votes,” Clark said.