MUSKEGON HEIGHT, Mich. — Officials in Muskegon Heights postponed a vote on an interim city manager, but did hire a temporary attorney at a special meeting on Monday.
Last month, the Muskegon Heights city council voted to not renew former manager Troy Bell’s contract, which expired on January 31.
READ: City left in limbo after city manager is voted out
However, a plan to find his replacement was never created.
Walter Watt, the city’s mayor, called two meetings to try and do so, but both were canceled because not enough council members showed up.
Eventually, the council unanimously voted to name Muskegon Heights Police Chief Maurice Sain as acting city manager for one week at a third special meeting held last Thursday.
They then scheduled a meeting for Monday to appoint an interim city manager, who would be able to work for a longer period of time than someone in the acting role.
However, only one of the six candidates showed up.
Council members felt it was unfair to move forward, so they decided to reschedule to February 13.
“I appreciate council’s input tonight on things and how we can move forward, and I understand their concerns in making sure that we do things properly and correct in this entire process,” said Watt. “I think we did a good job tonight moving that forward.”
In the meantime, Muskegon Heights Police Chief Maurice Sain will continue to serve as acting city manager.
The council passed a motion though, which allows Watt to sign off on “critical documents” in an effort to help Sain’s workload.
Officials also selected Te Smith as the interim city attorney.
The former one resigned last week.
Smith is a Muskegon Heights native who runs Smith Attorneys Group, a national legal group based in Chicago.
According to Watt, the city’s accounting firm, who acts as their finance department, was at risk of leaving too, but the council approved a motion on Monday which retains it, pending the approval of an engagement letter.
“City business is going to be conducted,” said Watt. “There might be some things in the pipeline that we need to catch up on and we’ll do that, but the city of Muskegon Heights is moving forward, our business is moving forward. We’re doing all the things we need to do to put the pieces back together so that we can continue to grow and make improvements in our city.”
Monday’s special meeting can be watched below:
Special Meeting Agenda 2-6-23 by WXMI on Scribd
