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Four people want to fill a soon-to-be-vacant seat on the Alpena Municipal Council, and we urge Alpena residents to communicate with the existing councilmembers and tell them who you think should join the city government.
Erinn Kane, Christopher Moses, Ashley Peterson, and Kevin Ginter have filed to seek appointment to a council seat opened up by last month's resignation of Matt Waligora from the mayorship.
The council must appoint one of its own members to that open mayoral seat, which will create a vacancy on the council to be filled by one of the four candidates.
Whoever the councilmembers choose to serve alongside them will serve until Dec. 31. Voters will fill both the council seat and the mayor's seat in the November election.
The council casts important votes at each meeting that affect Alpenans' day-to-day lives. At its last meeting, for example, the council considered changes to the contract that tasks the Alpena Fire Department with providing ambulance services across Alpena County.
The council also sets policy on everything from which city roads get repaired to where street lights operate.
Every day Alpenans ought to have a say in who gets to cast those votes.
While the temporary appointment created by a midterm vacancy falls on the councilmembers' shoulders, Alpenans ought to still voice their opinion on who they trust with their tax dollars.
We urge every Alpenan to show up to the council meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, hear from the four applicants for the council appointment, and tell the council who you think should get the spot.
And we urge the council to listen.
(THE ALPENA NEWS)