Council Finally Crosses the Finish Line

It is on a rare occasion that I get the opportunity to get away from the island for over three weeks and intentionally leave my laptop behind. However, late in February of last month, Janet and I took advantage of a wonderful opportunity to spend some time away from the home we both love so much here on Marco and travel to some of the Middle East and Asia on a trip with the Marco Men’s Club. I will speak to you about that journey in more detail in our next edition and hope you enjoy reading about it as much as we did experiencing it firsthand.

However, as we were away “globe-trotting,” the island itself was abuzz with some interesting news we’ve all been waiting for all too long. Some had come to question the motives for the stalemate surrounding the inability of the council to grapple with not only the filling of the position of Chairman and Vice Chair but the inability to fill that void on the council which existed due to the resignation of former Councilman Greg Folley. I’ve spoken to the issue in two separate “More Straight Talk “ columns in our paper, and the rehashing of those thoughts will be spoken to in a later commentary. 

The six members of council met in a special session on March 17th at 1:00 PM, where after an exhaustive debate over the procedure they would use to choose a councilor to fill the vacancy which they would eventually bring forth a vote of 6-0 in Mr. Champagne’s favor to fill the vacancy.

It may have been Mr. Champagne’s presentation regarding his desire to serve the residents of the island. His business qualifications, as well as his reviews of the city’s adopted plans for the future, which included the City’s Strategic Plan, the city’s latest financial reports, and his beliefs which center on strong teamwork as the centerpiece for success with any organization he has been involved in.

He may have taken some of the six members sitting on the dais to school on the items within the City’s adopted Strategic Plan as well as the City’s Comprehensive Plan for the community. This blunt, no-nonsense approach of his appeared to surprise some on the dais due to his deep dive into these complex and elaborate documents that some say have been ignored as of late. 

Council returned that evening for the first time since the November election with a full complement of councilors and quickly took up the issue of electing both a chair and vice-chair for the council. I was pleased to see that by a 4-3 vote, Erik Brechnitz was elected Chairman and  Stephen Gray was elected to the position of Vice-Chairman by a 5-2 vote.

Brechnitz has served the community well during his time on council in a fair and balanced manner. That was well on display during these last five months as council has struggled with the process of bringing on a seventh member. Gray is also a studied and quiet individual who seems to immerse himself in issues as they come to Council's attention.

It will be interesting to see how the seven separate councilors can work together in the future. All are intelligent and quick studies, and we wish them well during the months ahead as the challenges for communities such as Marco will demand their very best.