Ilsa Minor | Daily Press The newest member of the Gladstone City Commission, Robert Pontius, takes his oath of office during Monday’s regular city commission meeting at city hall. Pontius was appointed to fill the seat opened by the resignation of former commissioner Darin Hunter. Also pictured are commissioners Brad Mantela and Greg Styczynski.

GLADSTONE — After hearing from each of the six candidates vying for appointment to the single seat open on the Gladstone City Commission, the commission selected and swore in Robert Pontius Monday night.

“I just wanted to thank everybody for their consideration and for selecting me and I hope I’m worthy of it. I have a lot to learn so if you’d help me along from time to time I’d appreciate it,” Pontius said during commissioner comments near the end of the meeting.

Pontius joins the commission with 25-years of executive experience across for-profits, non-profits and higher education. In addition to holding several patents and an entrepreneurial background, Pontius was most recently the CEO of the economic development non-profit Adventure North, based in Marinette, Wis. He is also familiar with Michigan’s state-level economic development entities as well as frequent sources of municipal funding, such as tax incremental financing and grants.

“Economic development really is a precursor to those other things (recreation opportunities and public safety) so the big limiter, yeah, you can do and add public amenities without increasing tax base, but it’s a lot easier when you’ve got a bigger tax base to help underwrite some of those things,” he said

While it was ultimately Pontius who secured the seat on the commission, Monday’s meeting gave all six of the applicants for the seat an opportunity to introduce themselves and answer questions posed by the commission. After Brian Godfrey, Diane Godfrey, Jason Leonard, Michael O’Connor, Pontius and Steve Viau gave their five-minute introductions and answered a series of questions, multiple members of the commission encouraged the remaining applicants to seek election in November, when three of the commission’s seats will be up for grabs.

While not technically part of his introduction, Viau, a former commissioner, took to the podium in public comment with a response to an article published in the Daily Press on May 12. The article recounted controversies during his time on the commission, including his speaking as a commissioner during talks with the Gladstone School District over the former school bus garage, which he was bidding against the city to purchase, and accusations that he misused Gladstone Downtown Development Authority facade grant funds he was awarded while he served on the authority. Viau later repaid a portion of the funds.

“I do believe in the freedom of the press, the freedom of the local paper to cast summaries of newsworthy events to inform the public, but I have misgivings when any person — any person, not just the press — anybody, distorts information to give the wrong impression to intentionally deceive,” said Viau.

Viau also alleged the city had functionally blacklisted him from serving on boards and commissions and some city staff refused to speak to him.

“I still try to get on committees, finance committees and different things through (the Michigan Municipal League) all I needed was a position in the city, whether it was the DDA, rec board — which I’ve applied for every one of them — housing commission, and nobody wants me. Except the citizens,” he said.

When asked if he supported the Gladstone Downtown Development Authority — one of the questions asked of all the applicants — Viau said he did, but admitted to being part of a lawsuit against the city over the 9th Street Special Assessment. In addition to the funds raised by the special assessment, the 9th Street project was largely funded using DDA dollars.

“I never did not support the DDA. I’m on that lawsuit. Does that disqualify me for not supporting the DDA? I’m on that lawsuit but it ain’t against the DDA. It’s against yous going into my pocket for the next 15 years,” he said.

The lawsuit in question was started by another applicant for the commission seat, former commissioner and long-time litigator against the city O’Connor. However, O’Connor’s couldn’t answer whether he supported the DDA or the projects it supports because of a different lawsuit he had already settled with the city.

“As you know, we have a settlement agreement. I have a letter here from (the law firm of) Miller Canfield. I’m afraid I can’t comment unless you’d like to give me a waiver on that,” he said.

All of the applicants were asked to think of a time they were involved in a conflict and came to a compromise. After some thought, O’Connor referenced a dispute over a sewage backup in his home shortly after moving to the city. According to O’Connor, the city ultimately paid for damages caused by the backup but it took convincing.

“There’s a compromise. We say ‘here’s the facts.’ They relent. If not, then you get to the lawyer,” he said.

When it came to his goal of seeking the open seat, O’Connor said his goal was to find a long-term, sustainable approach to governance that wouldn’t make it too costly to live in the city.

The remainder of the candidates were, like Pontius, new faces that had not previously been seated on the commission. Among them was a common thread: a love for Gladstone.

“Even if I don’t get on a seat, I would like to work with somebody to try, because I would like to see this place be somewhere my kids decide ‘I want to live here for the rest of my life,'” said Brian Godfrey, a lifelong resident who said it would be an understatement to say he bled purple and white.

Diane Godfrey, who raised her children and operated a business in the city, said the city’s primary challenge was listening to the residents, but boiled down her interest in the open seat to her love for Gladstone.

“I love Gladstone, and basically I don’t have too many other things to say about it,” she said.

When asked if he felt economic development, recreation opportunities, or public safety were the most important issue, Leonard praised the city’s public safety department but said economic development was his primary concern.

“Ultimately, I think economic development trumps the other two because we all want our kids to stay here. We all want our kids to get out of high school and settle down here and not go far away. Well, they’re not going to do that if there’s nothing for them to do because there’s no jobs,” he said.

After all of the candidates had spoken, the commission ranked their choices and the results were tallied by City Manager Eric Buckman. Initially, only the top two choices were going to be announced, but, at Viau’s request, the entire ranking was read. In order, the commission chose Pontius, Leonard, Brian Godfrey, Viau, Diane Godfrey, and O’Connor.

Upon hearing the results, O’Connor began chanting, “Stop the steal.”