Politics & Government

Royal Oak Committee Appointees 'A Little Bit Younger, More Gender Balanced'

Seven out of 15 new committee members are women.

The Royal Oak City Commission approved the recommendations of the Appointments Committee at City Hall Monday. 

Of the 15 new committee members appointed to vacancies, seven are women. 

“I am proud of the work we did on this committee," said Commissioner Jeremy Mahrle. "Unfortunately with all the applications we couldn’t appoint everybody who wanted to serve."

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Mahrle said the committee attempted to make appointees "a little bit younger and a little more gender balanced" in the hopes of increasing citizen involvement.

Mayor Jim Ellison supported the recommendations saying the committees have historically been "very heavy" with men over age 50.

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 “If we’re going to start diversifying and we’ve got opportunities for new people to get involved, which is what we are always encouraging,  I think there is justification in putting (new) people on these boards," Ellison said.

The commission approved the following vacancies:

  • Dennis Andrzejak, Animal Shelter Committee
  • Matthew Wood, Animal Shelter Committee 
  • Frank Quinn, Civil Service Board 
  • Theresa Nielsen, Crime Prevention 
  • W. Michael Byrne, Farmer’s Market Committee 
  • Marc Sackin, Memorial Day Parade 
  • Amanda Klein, Parks and Recreation 
  • Phil Smith, Parks and Recreation 
  • Sarah Bomberski, ROOTS 
  • Blaine Tillander, Royal Oak Environmental Advisory Committee 
  • Amanda Morris, Traffic Committee 
  • Timothy Makar, Zoning Board of Appeals 
  • Anthony Offak, Zoning Board of Appeals 
  • Sarah Thomas, Zoning Board of Appeals – 1st Alternate 
  • Kortney Glassford, Zoning Board of Appeals – 2nd Alternate 


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