A good man leaves public office at the end of the month.

Alpena County Commissioner Cam Habermehl’s term in office ends then, as he was defeated in the August primary by Kevin Burr, who will assume the seat the first of the year.

Habermehl had been involved with county leadership for 14 years, many of which he served as chairman of the board. He was involved in numerous key decisions in the county during that time, and his wisdom and institutional knowledge of those past decisions will be missed.

Habermehl was honored by his peers this week at his last commissioners’ meeting.

“It has been an interesting 14 years, and it has been fun,” he shared at the meeting. “I will probably miss it, and I didn’t realize there was that much that we accomplished. I appreciate the support from everyone in the county. The boards have been great, and we have accomplished a lot. We have great employees, we couldn’t ask for anybody better. The people that are here work very hard and do a great job for the county. I think it has been a good run.”

So do we.

Habermehl was a “straight shooter” who spoke what was on his mind, yet, even when he disagreed with someone, he did so with respect. After the decision was over, he was always quick to mend fences and move forward.

We appreciated that, as we believe that is what government leadership should look like.

And, we hope that same style of leadership will be followed by those at the county who follow Habermehl.

As for Cam, we thank him for his service and wish him all the best in the years ahead.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)