For the Gazette
Skip Schulz/For the Gazette
Looking back is former Ontonagon Village Manager Joe Erickson while seated next to his attorney, Adrianne Wolf. The council voted 4-3 to terminate Ericksonâs contract as village manager for a second time.
ONTONAGON The Ontonagon Village Council voted to raise property taxes on the economically depressed community. However, that was not the issue that forced the council to hold a special meeting Wednesday afternoon. To accommodate the expected turnout of concerned residents, the council met at the Ontonagon Village Fire Hall.Â
The meeting was to decide whether to retain Village Manager Joe Erickson, or to terminate his employment.
For the Gazette
ONTONAGON What was expected, addressed at an Ontonagon Village Council Meeting, and had posts on social media, came to fruition. With no one on the ballot this past November, Jessica Huntzinger was elected to the council, but had never attended a single meeting.
Huntzinger’s first meeting on the council was to be on Nov. 10, 2020. Monday night’s meeting was the fifth meeting that she did not attend. She failed to make a single meeting.
Before the Nov. 3 election, it was known that she had taken a nursing job outside of the Upper Peninsula. During Public Comment an Ontonagon village resident questioned whether Huntzinger should be on the ballot, or let it be known that she took a job that would make it difficult for her to attend meetings.