Council back up to full complement of seven

By Megan Kelley
Review Writer
LAKE ORION — During its meeting on Monday, the Lake Orion Village Council voted to name Stan Ford as the new councilmember.
Ford replaces former Councilmember Sarah Luchsinger, who resigned on May 8.
The council voted 4-2 in favor of Ford’s appointment with Councilmembers Nancy Moshier and Michael Lamb casting the two dissenting votes. Council President Jerry Narsh, President Pro-Tem Teresa Rutt and Councilmembers Ken Van Portfliet and Carl Cyrowski voted in favor of Ford’s appointment.
The council interviewed two candidates on June 8 and four more before the regular council meeting on Monday. The six Lake Orion residents who applied for the position were George Dandalides, Stan Ford, Rosemary Ford, Alex Compareni, Matthew Phillips and Steve Novak.
All six candidates were asked the same questions, such as what does being on the village council mean to them, what experience they had and what issues they thought were most pressing to the village at-large.
“I am really honored and impressed by the number of people who have stepped forward who want to serve this community and the diverse backgrounds that they have and the skill sets that are in the community,” said Narsh. “To be able to bring those to the level of council is something admirable and we respect that.”
Rutt made the motion to appoint Ford, which was seconded by Cyrowski.
“The three reasons why I am moving to elect Stan are: first, he has broad-base community support. Some of the comments I heard from people after all the names of the candidates were released were ‘Stan is a legend’, ‘Everyone should be honored to have Stan as part of their group.’ Just the broad base support for what he’s brought to the community over the years,” Rutt said. “The second reason is there are a couple candidates that are very qualified who, again, I would be honored to have up here on the board who are already serving in capacities and I’m more of an ‘all-play’ person. So, if you’re already serving in different areas in the village, being able to bring another person on board to be able to serve as well. And then, the third reason is simply because he comes to meetings and we’ve seen him be active in trying to learn and be a part of the process here.”
Lamb said he also wished to have someone on the council that was a regular face at meetings and participates in the community, but noted that he had a different preference of who to appoint.
Ford, who was unable to be present at the meeting on Monday, is expected to be sworn in at the village offices sometime before the next council meeting. His term will end in November 2024 when the next village election is held.
Ford is a longtime resident of the village and is a retired teacher from Lake Orion High School. He spent 40 years as the varsity track and field coach and 39 years as the boys varsity cross country coach, and has been active in community organizations, particularly in supporting the village parks and recreation committee.
Before wrapping up discussion, Van Portfliet also encouraged those candidates who were not selected to look for other opportunities to serve in the village.