Village Council appoints new president
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CALUMET -- Rob Tarvis was appointed Village President at the regular February meeting Tuesday. Former Village President Brian Abramson resigned the position on Feb. 9, because he is no longer a resident of the village.
After the council accepted Abramson's resignation, Trustee Elise Matz nominated Tarvis to replace him.
"I would feel very good about moving forward with Rob as president," said Matz.
She said Tarvis stepped up, helped balance the village books and led the search to find a new manager, which she said she thought was very successful.
"I think he's committed to the village and has a good vision for where he wants it to go, and I think of all of us, I feel we have a lot of talent and good ideas on this board, but I think Rob is able to back that up with his time and experience, so I would like to nominate him."
Trustee Andrew Ranville seconded the nomination and concurred with Matz, referring back to Tarvis' previous position as village administrator, from 2014 to 2016. Tarvis left that position to accept employment with the Houghton County Road Commission as its accountant.
"It's not super recent, but recent enough, your service as village administrator -- that's how I got to know Calumet, and I found your openness and enthusiasm for this place really made me commit to this place, too."
Ranville acknowledged that Tarvis already had "a lot on his plate" with his professional work, but that he had already demonstrated his willingness to go above and beyond to help the village and the council.
Trustee Ken Olkkonen also endorsed the action, saying if Matz had not nominated Tarvis, he would have, for the same reasons expressed by Matz and Ranville.
Tarvis was appointed president almost exactly a year after being appointed to the Village Council on Feb. 16, 2021, after submitting a letter of interest for appointment as a trustee.
During that same council meeting, when he was asked why he wanted to take a seat on the council, one of the points that prompted him to submit his letter of interest was the then-upcoming budget deadline.
The council, he said, needed a two-thirds of the council as a whole to pass the budget, which is five members. At the time, there are three trustees and three vacant seats, under which circumstances Tarvis said he believed the Council could not expend money if there was no accepted budget.
Tarvis went on to say at the time, it had been three months since the November 2020 elections and no one, by February had submitted a letter of interest, so he felt compelled to do it.
He went on to say that it has been three months since the election, and no one has submitted a letter of interest, so he felt compelled to do it.
Tarvis will retain the presidency position until the November general election, when he can run again as a trustee if decides to do that.