Former Police Chief Appointed President in Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant trustees Thursday night selected former Police Chief James Majdoch as the new Village President with a 4-2 vote.

The meeting was called to appoint a new president after Carolyn Milkie tendered her resignation Wednesday.

After some preliminary discussion and a motion from Trustee Harry Manning to formally accept Milkie's resignation as village president, Manning surprised everyone by nominating Majdoch instead of a fellow trustee.

"(The ordinance) doesn’t say the person appointed has to be a trustee," he said. "If we appoint one of us, we should then decide how to fill that replacement but we don’t have to appoint one of us. I would prefer not to appoint one of us."

Trustee Karen Albeck was nominated by Trustee Jerry Garski and she disagreed, saying a newcomer—especially as the village enters budget meetings—would have a tough time getting up to speed.

The majority of the board, though, felt Majdoch had enough experience from his years as police chief to lead the village for at least the next six months.

In the end, Manning, Gary Feest, Sonny Havn and John Hewitt voted for Majdoch while Garski and Albeck voted for Albeck.

Majdoch only had a few moments for comment after he signed his oath of office.

"I want to work with the board to move the village forward as best we can," he said.

After the vote, the board immediately went into closed session to discuss the now-vacant administrator position. As village president, Majdoch followed trustees into the board room to participate in the discussion.

Mark Morien, who had been serving in an interim capacity since August, also resigned Wednesday. In his letter to the board, Morien recommended that administrator duties be transferred back to Planning Director Ron Meyer.