Board of Trustees 2007-2010

President:
Deborah Doyle was first elected to the Durand City Council nearly 17 years ago having served two of those years as mayor. In addition, her local government resume includes service on the DDA, the planning commission and the Shiawasee County 911 Board of Directors. Active in her community, Councilwoman Doyle’s numerous other affiliations include the Durand Centennial Committee, Durand Union Station Board of Directors and the Durand Rotary Club of which she is a past president. Her MML activities include membership on the MML Centennial Committee and the Elected Officials Academy (EOA) Board of Directors, and she is a graduate of the academy’s Governance Level III. Her term expires in 2008.

Vice President:
Robin Beltramini was elected to the Troy City Council in 2001, and previously served that city as a member and chair of both the Board of Review and the Planning Commission, and served on the Board of Zoning Appeals. She serves the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments as a member of the General Assembly, Transportation Improvement Plan Development Committee, Executive Committee, and as vice chair of the Community and Economic Development Advisory Council.  Beltramini serves as vice chair of NLC’s Community Futures Panel on Democratic Governance and is a member of NLC’s Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Affairs Steering committee. Additionally, she has served on a number of site management and district educational advisory committees and the state committee on gifted education. Her term expires in 2009.

Michigan Municipal League Trustees

Richard Clanton served a two-year term as city commissioner for the city of Kentwood prior to his appointment as mayor pro tem.  He has over 15 years of local government experience in the city of Kentwood having previously served on the Zoning Board, Economic Development Board, Brownfield Authority, Pension Board, and the Planning Commission. 

Clanton has been involved with the League for the past 8 years as secretary, vice president and president of Region III, president of the Elected Officials Academy, and vice president of Michigan Black Elected Officials.  He is also a Level III graduate of E.O.A.  In 2005, Grand Rapids awarded him the “Giants Award for Community Service.”  His term expires in 2010.

Kenneth V. Cockrel, Jr. has served on the Detroit City Council since 1998.  A former journalist, Wayne County Commissioner and community activist, he made history as the youngest person ever elected to this body.  In 2001 he was re-elected to the position of pro tem and in 2005 elevated to the position of president.  Cockrel has written and passed key legislation to improve the quality of life in Wayne County and in the City of Detroit.  He has passed ordinances to prevent the over-concentration of liquor stores, pawn shops, and other disruptive businesses in residential neighborhoods.  He serves on the Detroit Elections Commission, on the board of directors for the Detroit Transportation Corporation, and is also one of Detroit’s delegates to the Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG).  Cockrel is a native Detroiter with a strong commitment to the people of the City of Detroit.  His term expires in 2010.

LaVern Dittenber has over 42 years of experience as a teacher, administrator and director of state and federal programs.  Dittenber currently serves on MML’s Legislative Governance Committee.  He has attained Level III from the Elected Officials Academy, and served as president of the Elected Officials Academy board.  Dittenber has served 26 years as a municipal official for the City of Au Gres, and has served as mayor for the past 16 years.

Dittenber believes the time has come to be more pro-active in educating the residents of Michigan’s communities about what municipal officials are doing and where their tax dollars are being spent. Too much of what is being accomplished is not recognized or is taken for granted. His term expires in 2009.

Dana Foster comes to the MML Board of Trustees with nearly 30 years experience in municipal administration. Before becoming the city manager of Brighton, Michigan in 1991, he served as assistant city manager/personnel director for the City of Leavenworth, Kansas, budget analyst in Johnson County, Kansas and administrative assistant to the city manager is Lawrence, Kansas.

Foster serves on the board of the Brighton Chamber of Commerce, is a member and past president of the board of the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival and is a past board member of the Michigan Local Government Management Association. His term expires in 2009.

Rev. George Heartwell was elected mayor of the City of Grand Rapids in November 2003 after serving several terms as a city commissioner. As a commissioner, Heartwell championed civil rights and economic empowerment legislation and was seen as a friend of businesses and the poor.  His philosophy is that an economically vibrant city has a better opportunity to address the needs of the poor than does an economically distressed city. Previously, he designed and implemented the Community Leadership Institute at Aquinas College and has served on many community boards and commissions, including the MML’s Legislative Governance Committee. His term expires in 2008.

Penny Hill is the Village Manager for the Village of Kalkaska, moving to Kalkaska from Ontonagon in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where she served as the Ontonagon Village Manager for seven years, and previously served with the City of Bessemer as clerk, treasurer, and manager.  Serving a total of 28 years in the public sector, she is an active advocate for local government.  She is member of the MML Liability & Property Pool board of directors and served as a member of the Michigan Local Government Management Association board of directors from 2004-2007.  Penny is one of the founding members of the Northern Michigan Public Service Academy, an organization that provides continuing education for local elected and appointed officials in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  She is a life member of the Ontonagon County Historical Society, and in 2002, she was recognized by the Michigan Rural Water Association as Woman of the Year for her work in developing a regional water system. Her term expires in 2010.

Jeff Jenks has served on the Huntington Woods City Commission since 1999, adding to his 36 years experience working in the public sector. Jenks serves on MSU’s Michigan Political Leadership Program Advisory board, MML’s EOA board, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Executive Committee, SEMCOG’s Regional Review Committee, and he chairs the Data Advisory Committee.  In 2007 Jenks was awarded a competitive Taubman Fellowship and completed a three-week intensive Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.  Jenks believes that we must protect local control and our rights-of-way, and we must reach out to all corners of Michigan by visiting and working with the communities that make up our membership.  His term expires in 2009.

Deanna Koski was first elected to the council in 1989 and has served as a Macomb County city representative for the Michigan State Boundary Commission, and has completed Level II of the Elected Officials Academy.  Koski is also a graduate of the Police Department Citizen’s Academy, the Fire Department Citizen's Academy and the CERT program, and is an Affiliate Member of the Metropolitan Consolidated Association of Realtors.  She has served as a member of the Public Safety and Crime Prevention steering committee through NLC, the League’s Legislative and Urban Affairs Committee, the elected Officials Academy Board, the Public Safety Committee, and the Legislative Governance Committee.  Koski is also a member of the Sterling Heights Area Chamber of Commerce, Sterling Heights Community Foundation, and the Oakland County Bar Association.  She is a former president of the Women in Municipal Government Association and former chairperson for Region I.  Her term expires in 2010.

Linda Gedeon-Kuhn is in her second elected term as a Bridgman councilmember, and was appointed twice to that body before being elected.  She is currently the planning commission’s recording secretary and also serves as secretary on the zoning board of appeals.  Gedeon-Kuhn chairs the Bridgman Parks Committee and the Celebrate Bridgman Festival Committee, is a Police and Fire Commissioner, and serves on the MML Legislative and Urban Affairs Committee along with serving as director on the MML Workers Compensation Fund Board.  She has been in charge of the WEKO Beach Concert Series, completed Level III of the MML Elected Officials Academy, and has served on the EOA Board.  Her term expires in 2008.

David Lossing has served as mayor of the City of Linden since 2004 after serving on the Linden City Council since 1998.  As mayor, Lossing has initiated a regional dialogue on land use planning called the “Southern Lakes Planning Initiative” which includes six local governments in two counties in southern Genesee and northern Livingston counties. 

Lossing currently works for the University of Michigan-Flint as the Director of Government.  He previously served as associate director of State Outreach on UM’s Ann Arbor campus in the Office of Government Relations.  He also served on the congressional staff of U.S. Senator Carl Levin (MI) for nearly nine years.  David serves on a number of MML committees--Elected Officials Academy board of directors, the Legislative Governance Committee, the Economic Development/Land Use Committee, and the Policy Rewrite Subcommittee.  He is also a Level II graduate of the Elected Officials Academy.  His term expires in 2009.

Larry Nielsen has over 24 years of public administration experience. Before becoming the manager for the Village of Paw Paw, he served 7.5 years as manager for the City of Bangor.  Nielsen served 6 years as manager in Berrien Springs, 7 years as township supervisor in Benton Charter Township, and he served 2 years with the Regional Economic Development Corporation.  He also worked 2 years for Senator Carl Levin.  Nielsen serves on the MML’s Workers’ Compensation Fund board and is also president of the Southwest Michigan Managers Association. His term expires in 2009.

David J. Post has served as village manager for the Village of Hillman for the past 12 years in addition to his service on the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments.  Post has been the chairman of the Montmorency County Economic Development Corporation since May 1999.  He has been involved in the Regional Economic Development Advisory Committee, the County Building Authority, and the local chamber of commerce.  His policy interests include new and innovative ways to improve health care with reforms and changing the public’s view on retirement investments (401Ks, IRAs and MERS) to encourage more investment within Michigan.  He believes Michigan’s economic recovery will be the result of pension funds investment coupled with local investments by citizens who believe in their community.  Keeping money within Michigan is critical.  His term expires in 2010.

Carol Shafto, the newly elected mayor of the city of Alpena, has served the city since 1988. Prior to her mayoral election, she served on the Planning Commission until appointed to fill a vacancy on City Council in 1995—she then went on to be reelected to that post for three subsequent four-year terms. Shafto is an AICP professional planner and has brought that dimension to her City service where she is on the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, the Historic District Commission and numerous other community boards and commissions. Shafto is a Level III graduate of the EOA and served on its Board of Director for three years. She is immediate past president of MML Region Six and is only the second woman to serve as an elected official in the city’s history. Shafto believes that gender balance helps bring a different perspective to local decision making. Her term expires in 2010.

Charlotte Soderbloom was elected the first mayor of the recently consolidated City of Iron River in July 2000, and is currently serving her third consecutive term as mayor.  She has served on the Stambaugh City Commission from 1993-1999 (serving two of those years as mayor), and also on the Police and Fire Authority. 

Soderbloom was Secretary of the West Iron County Sewer Authority, and the secretary, then chair of the Westside Consolidation Committee. She currently serves on the DDA, the Planning/Zoning Board, Brownfield Development, has been a member of the Northern Michigan Academy since its inception; and is immediate past president of the MML Region VII.  Soderbloom serves on the City of Iron River Planning/Development Steering Committee, and remains actively involved in local community organizations and events. Her term expires in 2008.

Gary Tuzinowski is serving his third term as councilmember for the City of Algonac where he previously served as their city manager from 1976-1982, and has also been their acting city manager.  Tuzinowski has spent his career serving several Michigan municipalities and retired from the City of Oak Park as a municipal accountant.  He was on the Board of the Elected Officials Academy for three years, serving as its president in 2005, and has received a Level III Governance Award.  Tuzinowski is a founding member and secretary of the Algonac/Clay Community Fund and is chairman of the funds grant committee.  He is a past secretary of the League’s Region V and past president of the Oakland County Treasurers Association.  His term expires in 2008.

Thomas L. Youatt has served as city administrator and city clerk for the City of Harbor Beach since 1993.  His prior local government experience includes serving as parks director for Sanilac County and harbor master for the Village of Port Sanilac. Youatt has served on the board of directors of the Michigan Local Government Management Association and also has served as chair of Region IV of the MML.  Youatt is a member of Harbor Beach Rotary Club and serves on MML’s Legislative Governance Committee His term expires in 2009.

Dan Gilmartin was appointed in March of 2005 as the seventh executive director of the Michigan Municipal League, the state’s association of communities since 1899. In this role, Gilmartin has authority over the League’s programming, policy development and member services. Prior to being appointed executive director, Gilmartin served as the League’s deputy director from 2000-2005, where he led efforts to revitalize its membership programs and design new services for Michigan communities. Gilmartin also served for four years as the organization’s lead lobbyist in Lansing and in Washington, where he concentrated on a number of key issues including transportation, land use and urban redevelopment.

Through his work on behalf of municipalities, Gilmartin is recognized as a statewide leader in the fields of urban revitalization, local government reform and transportation policy.

Prior to joining the MML in 1996, Gilmartin served as executive director of the Conference of Western Wayne for seven years, where he worked directly with cities and townships on a number of critical issues confronting local governments.