Commissioner appointment ends in stalemate

By Grace Lovins

Following lengthy deliberations, the appointment of a new Birmingham city commissioner during the Monday, April 13, meeting ended in a stalemate between two candidates.

The search for a new city commissioner follows current mayor pro tem Anthony Long’s resignation as he will no longer be living in the city. The appointee will fill Long’s spot the remainder of his term expiring in November 2027.

A total of eight residents applied for the commission vacancy, including Richard Wetherhold, Ilir Doresi, Beth Correa, Gordon Thompson, Brian Gordon, Debra Horner, Mary E. Jaye and Doug White.

After interviews conducted during a workshop held prior to the start of the regular meeting, the commission nominated two applicants: Jaye and Horner.

Horner currently works as a University of Michigan municipal research program manager and serves as a member of the city’s environmental sustainability committee. Jaye is a retired Stellantis executive and member of the city’s historic district committee.

Kicking off discussions on the nomination, commissioner Brad Host expressed his support for Jaye, noting that he feels the commission’s role is to make decisions, which he says Jaye is used to making and living with, given her former role at Stellantis. Andrew Haig also backed Jaye, saying that he is interested in “execution of efficiency” which he believes Jaye is more experienced in.

Commissioner Bill Kolb said he would be supporting Jaye but did not offer an explanation of his reasoning.

In contrast, commissioners Kevin Kozlowski and Therese Longe, along with mayor Clinton Baller, expressed their support for Horner. Longe, in response to Host’s comments about decision-making, said that the commission is not hiring a CEO who makes decisions unilaterally, but a member of the commission that works together to make such decisions.

Longe also suggested that Jaye’s skillsets are redundant to skills already offered by sitting commissioners, noting similarities between her experience as a corporate executive to that of Kolb’s experience as an executive of a creative agency, as well as her analytical experience to Haig’s experience.

Baller and Kozlowski also offered their arguments that Horner’s experience is an opportunity for the commission to gain a new perspective that would not only benefit the commission but the city as a whole.

“We are a policy making body and we have before us somebody who has spent their life researching municipal policy. I just feel like the line doesn’t get any straighter than that,” Kozlowski said.

Two votes were taken for Horner’s nomination, both ending with the same outcome of three commissioners in favor, Kozlowski, Longe and Baller, and three opposed, Host, Haig and Kolb. One vote for Jaye’s nomination had the same result with three in favor, Host, Haig and Kolb, and three opposed, Baller, Longe and Kozlowski. Anthony Long was not present for discussions or for voting on the appointment.

The commission has 30 days to execute their decision on the new member, and the matter will be taken up again during the next city commission meeting.