Chair - James Buck, Mayor, City of Grandville

James Buck has served as a municipal official with the City of Grandville since 1971. He served as a councilmember from 1971-1984, and as Mayor from 1984 to present. James is a past chairman of the MML Workers' Compensation Fund, and former MML board member. He also served on the Michigan Association of Mayors board for four years and was awarded an MML Honorary Life Membership in 1998.

Vice Chair - Nancy Crandall, Mayor, City of Norton Shores

Nancy Crandall was elected to the Norton Shores City Council in 1981 and served until 1986 when she was elected as a state representative from the 97th district. In 1993, she returned to local government when she was elected mayor of Norton Shores until retirement in 2005. Nancy completed a three-year term on the League’s Board of Trustees in 1999 and served as President of the League from 1998-1999. She has graduated from Level III (the Governance Level) of the Elected Officials Academy and is still active within NLC. In 2002, she was elected to a three-year term on the Board of the MML Liability and Property Pool.

Treasurer - Kate Lawrence, Mayor, City of Brighton

Kate Lawrence has served as a municipal official with the City of Brighton since 1993. She served as Mayor Pro Tem from 1995-1999, as Mayor from 1999-2005 and as councilmember from 2005 to present. Kate is the current chairman of the MML Liability & Property Pool. She completed a three-year term on the League’s Board of Trustees in 2003 and served as President of the League from 2002-2003. She serves on the Brighton Area Fire Authority and is involved in the community as a rotarian and optimist club member.

Board of Directors

Durene Brown, Ombudsperson, City of Detroit

In September 2005, Durene L. Brown was unanimously appointed by the Detroit City Council to serve 10 years as the City Ombudsman, in accordance with the City Charter. Ms. Brown was a former Trustee on the Michigan Municipal League Board from 1987-1989, and she co-chaired the Natural Resources Committee for the National League of Cities. She has over 20 years of experience in both the public and private sectors working with local government officials, as well as legislators and agencies at the state and federal government levels.

Robert Collier, Council of Michigan Foundations

Robert S. Collier serves as President and CEO of the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF), a 31 year-old nonprofit association with more than 400 independent, family, community and corporate foundations and corporate giving programs.

Rob serves on numerous boards, commissions and taskforces including the Michigan Nonprofit Association, Michigan Community Service Commission, Michigan Association of United Ways and the International Network for Strategic Philanthropy. His career in philanthropy includes service as a Program Officer with the C.S. Mott Foundation, Grants Director for the Gannett Foundation, Executive Director of Rotary Charities of Traverse City and founding Director of the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation.

William Costick, Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment

Bill Costick’s career in city management began as assistant to East Lansing’s city manager in 1966, followed by nine years as city manager in Flushing, two years deputy manager in Troy and 16 years with the City of Farmington Hills. In 1991 Bill served as President of the Michigan City Managers Association. He is a life member of ICMA.

Bill has been active with the MML for 30 years, past member and chair of the Transportation and Environmental Affairs Committee and has spoken at League conferences on several occasions. Bill is a graduate of MSU and has served on the MML Foundation Board since 2004.

Myron Frasier, Council Member, City of Southfield

Myron Frasier was appointed to the Southfield city council in 1992 and 1996, then was elected in 1997. In 1994 he was appointed to the City of Southfield planning commission. He has served on the MML Board of Directors and ended his term as Vice President in 2003. Myron was also involved with the National League of Cities FAIR Steering Committee. He is highly involved with his community and participates in the Karmanos Cancer Institute, AARP, Common Ground Sanctuary, Goodfellows, Mitcham AME Church and others.

Dan Gilmartin, Executive Director, Michigan Municipal League

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 lead efforts to revitalize its membership programs and design new services for cities and villages. Gilmartin also served 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.

Carla Gribbs, Detroit Edison Company

Carla Gribbs is a Regional Manager for DTE Energy (the parent company of Detroit Edison and MichCon). Responsible for local government and community relations, she has worked with DTE Energy for 23 years. Carla has a degree in public administration from Michigan State University and a master of business administration from the University of Detroit Mercy.

She is active in many non-profit organizations including on the board of Leadership Oakland, the Eight Mile Boulevard Association and the Rochester Community Schools Foundation. She, along with her husband and 3 children, reside in the City of Rochester.

Alan Israel, Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office

Alan Israel is currently the Chief of Staff, Washtenaw County Prosecutors Office. He was first elected as the Township Clerk of Superior Township in 1974. Alan served as the mayor of the City of Milan for 8 years. He completed a three-year term on the League’s Board of Trustees in 1993 and served as President of the League from 1993-1994. Alan served on the board of directors for the Michigan Association of Mayors. He has served on local planning commissions, board of appeals and National League of Cities committees and was awarded an MML Honorary Life Membership in 1998.

Jeff Jenks, City Commission, City of Huntington Woods

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.

George Korthauer, City Manager, City of Petoskey

George Korthauer was appointed Petoskey's City Manager in 1983 after having served for six years as Administrative Assistant and Assistant Village Manager at Glencoe, Illinois, and for three years as Assistant Park District Director for the Bensenville Park District in Illinois.

He has served as a regional officer; as a member of the League's former Transportation and Environmental Affairs Committee and its Legislative and Urban Committee; as Chairman of the Michigan Municipal League Liability and Property Pool Board of Directors; and as a member of the Michigan Municipal League's Board of Trustees.

Patricia Lockwood, State Emerald Ash Borer Policy Director

Pat Lockwood was appointed in 2004 by Governor Granholm to the position of Policy Director - Emerald Ash Borer Program, she also served as the Michigan Department of Transportation's Commission Advisor. Her municipal experience includes serving as Mayor of the City of Fenton for 11 years, followed by State Representative for the 51st District. She completed a three-year term on the League’s Board of Trustees in 1992 and served as President of the League from 1994-1995. She is a Board member of the National League of Cities, Past President of Michigan Women in Municipal Government and Former President of Genesee County Cities/Villages Association. She is currently serving on the Board of Keep Michigan Beautiful and the Fenton Community Foundation and was awarded an MML Honorary Life Membership in 1999.

Dan Matson, City Attorney, City of DeWitt

Dan Matson is a municipal attorney for the communities of DeWitt and Fowlerville and serves as a municipal charter consultant throughout Michigan. He has served on the board of the Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys and is a past president. He also served on the Michigan Municipal League Legal Defense Fund as a past chair and board member. Currently, he is a councilmember for the Public Corporation Law Section, State Bar of Michigan.

Cliff Miles, Former City Manager, City of Midland

Cliff Miles was formerly an Engineer in the Ann Arbor Water Department and then served as City Manager of four Cities; Gaylord, Three Rivers, Adrian and Midland. After retiring as a Manager he has been retained as a Consultant for Midland Tomorrow. He was a Trustee on the Board of the Michigan Municipal League Board. Cliff was awarded the Michigan Municipal League Special Award of Merit in 1968 and was awarded an Honorary Life Membership by the League in 1993.

Florence Schrader, Treasurer, Ubly

Florence Schrader has been treasurer for the Village of Ubly since 1975. Florence chaired the Ubly Mayor Exchange program for eight years and worked on Ubly's 75th and 100th birthday celebrations. She was instrumental in establishing the Bingham Township Ambulance Service in 1979, was honored by the Bingham Township Board in 1992 and was named the EMT of the Year in 1993. Florence volunteers at the Huron Medical Center in Bad Axe and received a certificate of appreciation from the village of Ubly for her community service. Florence has served as secretary, vice chair and chair of MML's Region V, and is the League's legislative director for the village. She also completed a three-year term on the League’s Board of Trustees in 2006.

Maria F. Ward, Consultant

Maria F. Ward began her professional career with the City of Southfield as a research analyst and during her last year with Southfield, she created the Southfield Community Foundation and served as the first executive director. Next, Maria served as the director of community relations for Farmer Jack Food Market.

In 1991, Maria was recognized by the Michigan Women in Municipal Government with the "Distinguished Woman in Government" award. She is also a member of PRSA (Public Relations Society of America), past president of the Michigan Community Development Directors Association and is listed in Strathmore’s Who's Who of American Women.