Marquette City Commission recall petitions rejected

Three seats on the Marquette City Commission are safe from recalls for now.

Commissioners Dave Campana, Mike Coyne and Sarah Reynolds were the subjects of recall petitions filed with the Marquette County Clerk’s office last Tuesday. The paperwork cited ‘yes’ votes by Campana, Coyne and Reynolds to allow the Upper Peninsula Community Rowing Club to build a boathouse on the beach at Founders Landing as the reason behind the attempted recall.

Although the Election Commission, which is made up of Marquette County Probate Judge Cheryl Hill, County Clerk Linda Talsma, and County Treasurer Anne Giroux, unanimously agreed on the clarity of the recall language, two of the three members at the hearing had problems with the petition’s accuracy. Due to the disparity, the Commission voted to reject the recall petitions.

Michael Neiger, the Marquette man who wrote and filed the petitions, alleged that the three commissioners in question voted in favor of a permanent boathouse. City Attorney Ron Keefe and the three commissioners themselves pointed out that they actually voted to allow Keefe to write a draft for a license agreement for the boathouse. The current status of the proposed boathouse is still up in the air, with another location being considered.

Neiger now has 10 days to appeal the decision, which he may not have a chance to do considering he’s leaving the country for 10 days on July 4th.