Final City Council meeting for Houghton city manager

An important and legendary name in the city of Houghton is stepping down from his position. Although he still has a few days left in his tenure as City Manager, Scott MacInnes has attended his final City Council meeting. ABC 10 Keweenaw Bureau reporter Sam Ali was there, and he has the story.

After 40 years of holding nearly every administrative position in the city of Houghton, Scott MacInnes is stepping down as City Manager.

MacInnes was first hired by the city in 1974, right after he graduated from Michigan Tech. He worked his way up, working many positions within the city until he eventually was named City Manager in 1997. MacInnes says he wants his tenure to be defined as one where everyone came together to build the city into what it is today.

“We had a plan. We lived by that plan. We had a lot of input from the residents. We had a great city council and city employees to work towards this plan, and we created a great community here. I’m very proud and very happy to be a part of it,” MacInnes said.

And if that last name doesn’t sound familiar, it should, because his dad is legendary Michigan Tech hockey coach John MacInnes, whose countless accolades include being a charter member of the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame, a three-time NCAA champion and in 2007, he was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

MacInnes is still under contract by the city through 2014, but what does he have planned afterwards? “Well, my plan right now is to ask the City Council if I can leave on September 22nd, which is my 40th-year anniversary. Then, after that, I’m going to be looking for some part-time work. I like to work on projects or whatever people think I could be useful for,” said MacInnnes.

Among the approved resolutions from the meeting was an application to develop a SmartZone satellite program with the city of Marquette, but the night belonged to MacInnes, who has left a lasting impact on the city of Houghton.