Jamie Kramer, Leelanau County’s District 1 commissioner, amended her June 29 resignation letter Tuesday afternoon to make her resignation effective immediately. With Kramer’s position now vacant, the remaining commissioners resolved to leave her seat empty for the remainder of her term at a special session held on the same day.
The county Board of Commissioners voted 4-2 to not appoint a new District 1 commissioner to replace Kramer. According to Michigan Compiled Laws, the board could have chosen a resident or registered voter within 30 days of accepting a resignation.
However, based on an opinion from county attorney Matt Nordfjord, the board chose to not make this appointment. Instead, the board will proceed with just six members for the rest of the year. They will wait until one of the three candidates now running for the position starts their new four-year term in 2025, “let(ting) the voters decide,” as board Vice Chairman Doug Rexroat put it.
Rexroat and county commissioners Kama Ross, Ty Wessell, and Melinda Lautner voted to not appoint a new commissioner. Commissioners Gwenne Allgaier and Jim O’Rourke opposed this decision but were overruled by the majority.
When she announced her decision to resign to the other commissioners, Kramer cited “significant changes in (her) life situation,” the demands of her memorial and grief counseling business, Earthly After, and “feelings of being prohibited from decision-making and board choices due to (her) gender.”
Kramer initially said her resignation would not be effective until the end of July but amended that decision in a Tuesday email addressed to commissioners.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, including unnecessary harassment and inquiries into my personal life, I must make my resignation from my position as the District 1 Commissioner for Leelanau County effective immediately,” Kramer said. “I apologize for any inconvenience this sudden change may cause and appreciate your understanding.”
With this change, the Board of Commissioners can now have a split vote. If three commissioners vote “yes” and three vote “no” on a proposed action, the motion will fail. And with Kramer’s resignation, the Democratic Party lost their 4-3 majority on the board.
“The voters in Elmwood who voted for a Democratic commissioner … spoke, and we are choosing not to honor their preference with this,” said Allgaier, one of the three remaining Democrats on the board.
“The elephant in the room (is) we did have a clear majority with Commissioner Kramer, and we have now lost that, and that has to be acknowledged. That’s huge. It’s missed,” said Ross, another Democrat.
Interim County Administrator Richard Lewis noted that the board will still be able to do the county’s business with just six commissioners, however. And in email correspondence from Nordfjord provided to the newspaper by Lewis, the county attorney says that appointing a new member is not required.
“If no appointment is made during the 30-day time period (upon accepting the resignation), there would be no authority to fill the position through an appointment of the Board of Commissioners. Due to the fact that the timing of this resignation is after the point to apply for the primary there is not time for a special election and the seat would then remain vacant until the newly elected commissioner from that district is sworn in and seated on or after January 1, 2025,” Nordfjord said.
Rick Robbins, who was District 1 Commissioner from 2020-2022, is running for this office again this year. Robbins previously ran as a Republican, but he’s running as Democrat this year. Timothy McCalley and former County Administrator Deb Allen are competing for the Republican nomination on the Aug. 6 primary ballot.
