City Charter Commissioners ready to get to work
Manchester — village or city?
by Marsha Chartrand
With last week’s election, the work of the Manchester City Charter Commission can officially begin. And the nine newly elected commissioners are ready to get down to business.
The Charter Commission is charged with drafting a proposed “charter“ for the yet-to-be-formed city, which will be based on a template provided by the State of Michigan. It will be customized for Manchester by the commission, which must meet within 10 days after the November election to begin the process. The commission is set to meet on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 5:30pm in the village offices. This is an open meeting and the public is welcome to attend.
The process of writing the charter is anticipated to take approximately 90 days, and then it will be submitted to the governor for approval. Once it receives the governor’s approval, an election can be set for village electors to approve both the charter and a new City Council.
The questions we asked of our new commissioners included: What was your interest in running for Charter Commission? Tell us about your life and work experience that will help you be an effective Commissioner. What do you expect to learn from being on the Commission? And What is the most important thing that the Commissioners will accomplish over the coming months? Each commissioner answered in his or her own way. Please meet the members of Manchester’s new City Charter Commission:
William Brinkman
William Brinkman: When asked to run for the Charter Commission, I agreed since I am looking to serve the community in any way I can.
My main experience in local government up until this point has been as Chair of the Village Planning Commission.
I’m sure I will learn something new in this process! I don’t have any clue what that will be, but I am sure that dealing with the state should present some things I’m not familiar with. There will be a lot to learn in a short time.
And when it all is said and done, we’ll have a viable charter that is approved by the state and that works for the Manchester community.
Denise Collins
Denise Collins: Our family owns a restaurant in Manchester, Frank’s Place. After working for St. Joseph Hospital for 32 years and now with my family and our employees for the past 15 years, I’ve learned how to work with groups of people with varying views.
My father, in the 1980s, was involved with writing legislation to protect the elderly in the State of Michigan. Therefore, being on the DDA and the City Charter Commission is my way of giving back to the community.
The reason I decided to run for the City Charter Commission is because I wanted to help finish what we started. In 2019, I was on the Manchester Citizens Advisory Committee. After researching the pros and cons of Manchester becoming a city, we voted unanimously to move forward towards cityhood for Manchester.
We have a lot of hard work ahead of us. We are fortunate to have committee members who have for years been running the village of Manchester, on the council and on different committees. Their knowledge will help us tremendously. I’m excited to learn about the process of how to prepare a new charter for our town.
To accomplish our goals, we need the community to be involved by giving their input on the new city charter.
Mark Dresch
Mark Dresch: As someone who’s lived in Manchester most of my life, when I was approached I realized I was interested to be a part of the change in the community from a village to a city.
My job experience may not be relevant to the task at hand, but I have a very long history in the community and a lot of experience at working and being part of a team effort. And that will be an important aspect of what we do on the Charter Commission.
I’m not entirely sure what I will learn from this experience, but I do know it will be an opportunity to learn something new. Being recently retired, I have extra time to give to the community at this time, and the new experience part should be welcome.
The job of the commission will be to write a charter that sets the village on the right path, should the citizens vote to become a city. And that’s what we will work to do.
Dan Geyer
Daniel Geyer: With my recent retirement, I have time to perform a service for my community. My main interest is to help craft a City Charter that will promote a stable, successful City.
In my 47-year career as a water professional, including 14 years as a Village of Manchester employee, I had the opportunity to work with many and varied municipal entities. I have observed many governments that work very well, and hope to use that experience for the benefit of the new City.
In the performance of this duty, I hope to learn even more about the Manchester culture and to help embed that culture in the City Charter.
I think that the most important thing that this Commission can accomplish is to produce a Charter document that reflects the history and culture of the Manchester community and fosters its values for future generations.
Jack Gould
Jack Gould: For many years, while working for the Village of Manchester, I have seen the confusion that our residents experience with duplication of services between the Village and Township. It is hard for new residents to understand there are three property taxes payable, two from Township and one from Village. Becoming a City, residents will pay all taxes at the new City. Property Assessing (now done through Township) will be done through the City, as well as voter registrations and elections.
I have over 50 years experience working in local government in different capacities, 30 years for the City of Ann Arbor and 22 years for the Village of Manchester, presently Village Treasurer.
I expect to learn, by forming a City Charter, that we CAN maintain the same Village charm we experience today while keeping the name “Manchester Village“ within the charter.
The most important thing the committee will accomplish in the coming months is to write the charter to reflect a structure that is as close as possible to the existing Village structure. Except for the change in services listed above, I do not expect residents to notice any changes in government services except for name change.
Herb Mahony
Herb Mahony: I decided to get involved with the Charter Commission primarily because of the work I did on the Citizens Advisory Committee that recommended pursuing cityhood. My involvement in the research we did made me want to be part of the process to move that forward.
I’ve worked in a variety of appointed and elected positions; I’ve been on village council; and I’ve been involved in government at a city, county, and regional level. I have worked within enough different positions, that I think I have a decent level of insight for what it takes to put together a charter, which is basically a constitution for the city that needs to be adopted.
Through being on the commission, I expect to learn the details of what needs to happen — it’s a lot of details that go into putting the charter together, and it has to be in conformance with state law. It’s not like we can just do what we want. It has to be according to the state law.
The duties of the new commission are just to put together the framework for how the city will operate going forward, how governance will be structured, and where the authority of the different positions in the local government will lie.
Samantha “Sam“ Tank
Samantha Tank: Although my husband and I only moved to Manchester nearly three years ago, I am invested in this community and want to do what I can to strengthen it and foster a welcoming place for my son to grow up. The decision for the Village of Manchester to become a city is a big one that has been the source of concern for many residents. I ran for Charter Commission to lend my experience with consensus building to ensure that the city charter we vote on is reflective of current values and provides us with a path to grow and strengthen the community.
I currently work at a small governmental organization where I manage a variety of binational aquatic invasive species projects. A large part of my professional role is establishing clear and achievable goals within and between governments (e.g., federal, tribal, state, provincial, local), non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, then supporting all entities to develop a cohesive plan for achieving the common goals.
I look forward to learning more about Manchester community values and building community trust. I am also looking forward to gaining a better understanding of the local political process.
The most important thing I and the other eight Commissioners will do during our appointment is creating an open space where the community can provide input and direction into the City of Manchester charter in a way that balances current values and future opportunities.
Jeff Wallace
Jeff Wallace: My interest was to work with others to help write an original charter for the community that will serve all our residents for years to come. I have an interest in the charter reflecting the current form of government and services with local changes by ordinance made through the years by the Village Council. This would allow us to operate with control over items that state laws have taken away over the years and be more representative to the needs of our residents. It is also important to follow up on the work outlined in the Citizens Advisory Commission Report in 2019.
I earned a BBA in Management from Eastern Michigan University, served as a village trustee for three years, and have run the day-to-day operations of the Village of Manchester as the Village Manager for the last 30 years; retiring in April of 2022. This experience has allowed me to work with residents, staff, local elected officials, county government, and state government to understand what issues could be included in the charter to best serve the residents of our community.
(I expect) to learn from other commissioners and residents what constitutional items and in what format they want these to be included in the charter. These would include such items as: type of elections, management form, appointed positions, and assessment of other governmental processes our community could benefit from within the confines of the state constitution.
(The Commission will) listen to the community and, most importantly, draft a document that will be approved by the State of Michigan Governor’s office and that will be approved by residents of the Village of Manchester.
Lou Way
Louis Way: It is time to follow cities like Saline, Dexter, and Chelsea to separate ourselves physically and financially from Manchester Township. It has worked well for those cities, so I think we will have the same results. We want to do this by not creating animosity in the community but working together. We will still all be part of the same community, just like before.
I worked at the University of Michigan in Utilities for 30 years before retirement. I had leadership roles and contract negotiations skills that I will to bring to the “table.”
I expect that people may learn it is time for a change. We will be transparent and forward thinking. We will prepare for cityhood while listening to concerns from the community and working through any grievances that surface.
Change is never easy, and we want to make it as smooth as possible, working on the issues, including asset division, and making sure we still have a strong Fire Department. We want to move towards a new beginning that is best for all.
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