ESCANABA — The Escanaba City Council solidified the authority of the mayor to unilaterally decide on all board and committee appointments in the city Thursday, despite protests from one member who felt the process should be a joint effort of the council.

Council Member Tyler DuBord raised concerns over the appointment process the council has historically followed and discrepancies he identified within the board and committee application form. The form itself states “… all members of boards commissions and committees must be residents of the city of Escanaba unless directed by the Escanaba City Council to waive the requirements or as specified in the bylaws of the board, commission or committee or as mandated by states laws,” which DuBord argued both gave the entire council a say in the process and opened the possibility of non-resident volunteers.

However, with the exception of nonresidents serving on the Downtown Development Authority board with interests in properties located within the DDA district, Mayor Marc Tall argued against allowing non-residents a voice in the city’s governance.

“I would like to have this council go on notice to state clearly to everyone in town that our boards and commissions are for volunteers from the city,” he said. “I think that’s the right thing to do. People who live here should have a voice in government, and people who live outside — they can apply for a township position or a position in another city — but in my opinion, what we do here, we should get advice primarily from residents in town.”

Supporting Tall’s authority to bar non-residents from city roles, Council Member Ralph Blasier proposed a resolution, which functionally restated the city’s existing process of allowing the mayor to accept or reject applications for appointment at his discretion.

“The mayor has the authority to appoint persons to the Escanaba city boards and commissions. The mayor has the authority to extend the terms of termed-out members, for good reason, such as when there are insufficient numbers of actual volunteers. The mayor has the discretion to appoint only Escanaba residents to the Escanaba city boards and commissions (with the sole exception of the Downtown Development Authority, and then the mayor can make an exception only for an applicant who has a business in Escanaba). This resolution does not require a confirmatory vote of Escanaba City Council to ratify the mayor’s choices,” the resolution read.

DuBord balked at the resolution, citing another section of the application form that read, “Board and commission member positions are all voluntary and are appointed with the consensus of city council.”

“So you can recommend appointments, but it’s up the the council as a whole to agree to those appointments under consensus, and I just want to make sure that we’re transparent to the community by actually putting on the record the vote,” said DuBord. “That allows the community to have it on record and it shows we are having consensus to what you proposed to us.”

Ultimately, the council voted 4-to-1 to approve Blasier’s resolution as presented, with only DuBord dissenting.

“The history of mayoral appointments has always had the possibility of controversy, and whoever sits in this chair has to be able to take it, to accept the controversy should it arise. I ask for the consensus of council for appointments, but I don’t always get 100 percent unanimity, and I would like to continue to operate in that manner,” said Tall, adding the resolution reaffirmed the council’s historical practices and changes should be made to the application form to reflect them if necessary.

Not long after the vote, one such controversy was revisited when Escanaba business owner Kelli Van Ginhoven took to the podium during public comment to thank Tall for denying her application to serve on the DDA last year. Van Ginhoven, who has repeatedly attended council meetings requesting a reason for her denial, said her rejection led her to be more interested in city government and to attend board and committee meetings.

“Mayor Tall, I would like to say thank you for that — and I mean that sincerely, I do not mean that as a condescending comment — and I hope that after this year we are able to put our differences aside, because I am actively looking to move within the city of Escanaba if you have now decided that that is an absolute requirement to sit on any of your boards, committees, or commissions,” she said.