Comstock board appoints three trustees after interviews of 19 candidates

The Comstock Charter Township board filled three vacant trustee seats at a special meeting called for Friday, September 11.

Supervisor Martin moved to appoint Joe Van Bruggen, and the motion passed on a roll-call vote after board members cited Van Bruggen’s business experience and interest in township finances. “I make a motion to appoint Joe Van Bruggen,” the supervisor said during the meeting. Clerk Lawrence recorded four ‘yes’ votes for Van Bruggen.

The board next approved John Paver by unanimous roll-call after several members said Paver’s community engagement and business know-how would complement the board. Paver and Van Bruggen later took oaths of office. For the third seat, Supervisor Martin moved to appoint Kirk Hart; Treasurer Bloomfield declared a conflict and abstained from any discussion or vote about Hart, and the motion passed with three ‘yes’ votes and one abstention.

Board members repeatedly described the candidate pool as strong and said the panel used consistent interview questions, 30-minute interviews and submitted resumes and letters of interest to evaluate the 19 applicants. The township’s attorney explained the board split interviews into smaller groups to avoid forming a quorum outside a properly noticed meeting, a process the attorney said complied with the Open Meetings Act.

The newly appointed trustees will join the board immediately; Hart will be sworn in later when available. The board said it plans to continue public outreach and to review citizen-comment procedures at an upcoming regular meeting.

Provenance: topicintro SEG 111, topfinish SEG 1098.