Houghton County board leaves vacant seat open
Officials decide to wait for August primaries
Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Late Houghton County Board Chair Al Koskela’s seat sits vacant during Tuesday’s meeting. Seated around him are Administrator Elizabeth Bjorn, Commissioner Gretchen Janssen, Vice Chair Roy Britz, Chair Tom Tikkanen and Commissioner Glenn Anderson. The board voted Tuesday to table a vote on a replacement until after the August primaries.
Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Lake Linden Village President Glenn Schuldt, one of the applicants for Houghton County's vacant board position, stands while speaking about the board's decision to table the appointment during public comment Tuesday. Other applicants included Torch Lake Township Trustee Lou Ambuehl, seated in front.
Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Late Houghton County Board Chair Al Koskela’s seat sits vacant during Tuesday’s meeting. Seated around him are Administrator Elizabeth Bjorn, Commissioner Gretchen Janssen, Vice Chair Roy Britz, Chair Tom Tikkanen and Commissioner Glenn Anderson. The board voted Tuesday to table a vote on a replacement until after the August primaries.
Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Lake Linden Village President Glenn Schuldt, one of the applicants for Houghton County's vacant board position, stands while speaking about the board's decision to table the appointment during public comment Tuesday. Other applicants included Torch Lake Township Trustee Lou Ambuehl, seated in front.
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HOUGHTON -- The Houghton County Board won't weigh in on the vacant District 2 seat until after voters do so.
The board at Tuesday's meeting tabled the appointment of a commissioner to replace the late Albert Koskela until after the August primaries.
State law requires the board to fill a vacancy within 30 days. But with several of the applicants already running, board members said it made more sense to wait.
Applicants were required to be a registered voter in District 2, which includes Franklin, Osceola, Schoolcraft and Torch Lake townships.
Koskela had already elected not to run for another term, spurring four people to run in the Republican primary: Torch Lake Township Trustee Lou Ambuehl, Schoolcraft Township Supervisor Joel Keranen, former Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Schools board member Richard Nye and Lake Linden Village President Glenn Schuldt. Timothy Sears, a member of the Houghton County Planning Commission, is also running as a U.S. Constitution Party candidate.
All of them applied for the temporary appointment. They were joined by Eric Forsberg, who was a longtime county administrator, and Kevin Codere, formerly a Lake Linden-Hubbell Public Schools board member and Schoolcraft Township trustee, and a current member of the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance board.
"You can't get a better-quality group of people," said Commissioner Glenn Anderson. "On the other hand, because of that, I look at that pool and say 'How can I select among those types of candidates?'"
Anderson also pointed to the recent example of the Houghton City Council, which had left the council seat open from November until the May election.
Anderson said he didn't anticipate the board making any major decisions in the two meetings scheduled between Tuesday and the August primary.
The vote to table was unanimous. Board Chair Tom Tikkanen apologized to the applicants, most of whom were in the audience Tuesday.
"We greatly appreciate your interest in local government and trust that you understand, if not necessarily agree, and at least support this decision," he said.
Several of the applicants spoke at the end of Tuesday's meeting.
Sears disagreed with the board's frequent mention of the Republican primary, reminding them he was also running. Until voters can decide, he said, the board could pick one of the applicants who isn't on the ballot.
"Somebody like Eric Forsberg, who obviously has vast experience with this board, and as a controller, would probably be a good option, because I don't think there's any interest in him running for the seat permanently," he said.
Schuldt said to avoid giving preferential treatment to a major party, the board could wait until November.
"I feel we do need representation in that chair, but I also know all of you, and I think you guys can handle it," he said.
Keranen said he wished the board had reached out to Schoolcraft Township or other municipalities in the district for recommendations. He felt the district needed representation.
"I feel not having representation for District 2 is a disservice to District 2, I think it's a disservice to former Chairman Koskela ... any of these seven people who are in your stack of files there, I think they would have been an asset to this board even for that finite time," he said.
Ambuehl supported the board's decision.
"It's so close to the election that it'd be kind of an unfair advantage," he said.
In a press release Wednesday, the Copper Country Republican Party encouraged District 2 residents to write to the board and urge a special meeting to appoint Keranen. The party had formally endorsed Keranen prior to Tuesday's meeting.
In the release, the Copper Country Republican Party asked if the delay was ethical, or if there could be legal ramifications for not appointing someone within the required time.
"Our position is that there should be equal representation for all districts and by delaying this appointment is a disgrace to former Chairman Al Koskela and the good people of District 2," the party said.