Wayne County’s Melissa Daub joins nearly 300 at MAC Annual Conference to forge policy positions for Michigan
September 22, 2022. — Melissa Daub (D-Canton) joined nearly 300 county officials, speakers, and others from across Michigan this week to review and approve legislative policy positions at the 2022 Michigan Counties Annual Conference, held at the Blue Water Convention Center in Port Huron Sept. 18–20.
During the event, Commissioner Stan Ponstein of Kent County was sworn in as the MAC Board president. Ponstein is the 114th person to hold the president’s position for the organization that represents the leaders of Michigan’s 83 counties.
Plenary sessions at the conference focused on the expansion of broadband services to Michigan’s rural areas and the impact of the energy industry on the state.
Ponstein will lead a board that gained three new members via elections held at the conference: Antoinette Wallace of Macomb County, William Miller of Oakland County and Ken Mitchell of Clinton County.
As the conference closed, the MAC Board confirmed officers for the 2022–23 term. Joining Ponstein are Eileen Kowall of Oakland County (first vice president) and Jim Storey of Allegan County (second vice president). Phil Kuyers of Ottawa County moves to the role of immediate past president.
“The MAC Annual Conference is one I look forward to attending each year,” said Daub. “I appreciate the time and effort MAC staff puts into these events as we receive the most recent updates on the state legislature, so that we are better able to assist our counties and provide for our constituents.”
On Sept. 20, during their Annual Business Meeting, MAC members approved policy platforms developed by MAC’s policy committees overseeing issue areas ranging from finance to agriculture and tourism.
“St. Clair County and Port Huron were excellent hosts for us” said Stephan W. Currie, MAC’s executive director. “It is important as a statewide organization to visit and support all sections of the state, so we were pleased to be able to convene in the Thumb.”
MAC’s 2023 Annual Conference will be Oct. 1–4 in Kalamazoo County.
For more information on the Michigan Association of Counties, visit www.micounties.org.
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