Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Hancock Mayor Paul LaBine opens Wednesday’s Hancock City Council meeting, his final one with the council. LaBine resigned due to his appointment as Houghton County prosecutor, for which he will be sworn in Monday.

By GARRETT NEESE

gneese@mininggazette.com

HANCOCK — Community members and current and former Hancock officials praised Mayor Paul LaBine for his service at his final City Council meeting.

LaBine was appointed as Houghton County prosecuting attorney this week, filling the vacancy left when former Prosecutor Brittany Bulleit was appointed as 12th Circuit Court judge. He will be sworn in Monday. His partial term will end Jan. 1, 2025.

State law prevents officials from holding two elected positions that could potentially conflict, requiring LaBine to step down from council. He also stepped down from his position as an instructor at Gogebic Community College.

LaBine joined the council in 2016, during the same month City Manager Mary Babcock began working for the city.

“I’m sorry to see him go, but I congratulate him on his new position,” she said. “He is well-deserving, and he will do a great job.”

Former Councilor John Haeussler, referencing LaBine’s description of his appointment as “bittersweet,” said he would instead describe the moment as “happy.”

“You’re a tremendously wonderful ally and a tremendously difficult person to argue against, which is said with great respect,” he said. “I am very thankful that Houghton County is keeping you in public service, and I know you’re going to do an outstanding job.”

Haeussler also passed along congratulations from Sadiq Abdi, who worked with the city through a community economic development fellowship with the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM).

After the meeting, LaBine said while he was happy to get the prosecutor position, but he would be sad to leave the council.

A big accomplishment in that time was the city’s Redevelopment Ready Community certification last year through the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

“I’m very proud of that, because that’s opened up a lot of grants for us,” he said, pointing to a RRC plaque stationed behind his seat at the council table. “Also, it was a good exercise to go through to get our policies and laws and zoning and everything streamlined and efficient. I think we have a very effective and energetic government now that can respond to citizen needs fairly and much more effectively than it was six years ago when I first started.”

He’s also proud of the level of community volunteerism, including the city’s Beautification Committee and Downtown Development Authority. They’ve also helped add new amenities to the city, including new pickleball courts and the city’s dog park, which launched last year.

“In hindsight, it seems easy, but it wasn’t at the time,” he said. “It’s always a moving target. The council will keep moving forward and making changes. And I have faith that they will continue to improve the city the best they can.”

Outside his work on the council and with Gogebic Community College, LaBine has been practicing law since 2006. When the prosecutor position opened up, LaBine was immediately interested in the position, which he said Wednesday would be “a big leap in my career path.” Applying wasn’t a decision he made alone.

“I had a lot of friends and family and people I respect and trust. I talked to them,” he said. “I talked to people in the community who work in law enforcement, work in the legal profession, people that would have knowledge of the position. And they encouraged me to apply, they gave me the confidence to do so.”

For the most part, he said, “my priority right now is to determine what my priorities are.”

“I’m sure in a few months I’ll certainly have a handle on what the community needs are and what the priorities would be at that time,” he said.

An immediate priority will be filling staff positions at the office. Eventually there will be a chief assistant prosecutor and an assistant prosecutor to assist LaBine. On Monday, it’ll just be LaBine.

“Once I get some time under my belt and understand what I will need help with, I will be aggressively recruiting some attorneys to work in the office,” he said.

With LaBine at the prosecutor’s office, Mayor Pro Tem Kurt Rickard will become Hancock’s mayor, LaBine said. The council will then appoint a new mayor pro tem.

It will also be responsible for appointing a new council member, who will serve through the end of 2024. The position is at large, making it open to any city resident who is a registered voter.

Letters of interest will be accepted until 5 p.m. Eastern time Aug. 11. The council is tentatively slated to decide the appointment at its following meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. Aug. 16.