Adrian City Commission meets tonight with elected members from Nov. 2 election
ADRIAN — A slightly new era of commissioners seated on the Adrian City Commission are to begin their tenure at today’s meeting.
Newcomer Douglas Miller, a retired theater educator from Siena Heights University, will join the commission as a newly elected government official and will officially take part in his first premeeting and regular meeting, beginning at 6 and 7 p.m., respectively. Meetings are open to the public and are at City Chambers, 159 E. Maumee St. in downtown Adrian.
Along with Miller, Commissioner Gordon Gauss and former appointee Kelly Castleberry — now elected Commissioner Castleberry — will rejoin the commission after garnering the three highest number of votes in the Nov. 2 general election.
All three terms of office for Castleberry, Gauss and Miller run through 2025.
"I am very excited about getting started," Miller told The Daily Telegram after being elected. "I don’t know a whole lot about the process and procedures of the city commission, so it is going to be a big learning curve for me. I am hoping to bring my ability to work as a project manager to the table, along with being handy with budgetary timeframes and personnel."
Miller fills the seat left vacant by Commissioner Brad Watson, who was elected in 2017 and did not seek reelection to a second term.
At the commission’s Nov. 1 meeting, which was Watson’s final meeting as a commissioner, he was presented with a plaque and a proclamation courtesy of Mayor Angie Sword Heath and the commission, thanking him for his service in local government.
Heath said Watson served as a commissioner with “honesty, civility and integrity.” Watson was a major advocate for the improvement of Adrian’s parks and recreation offerings.
Commissioners Allen Heldt and Lad Strayer offered words of praise for Watson, noting that not only did friendships form during their years as commissioners but so did similar interests and making sure the best for Adrian was always at the forefront of their decision-making.
Toward the end of the meeting, Watson said when he campaigned for a seat on the city commission in 2017 he ran on a platform of four ideas: family, small business, education and recreation.
“Four campaign focuses promised and four campaign promises achieved,” he said.
Watson is the chief financial officer at Kapnick Insurance Group and is also the president of the Boys and Girls Club of Lenawee’s board of directors.
Even though he is no longer on the city commission, Watson said he plans to continue advocating for local projects and improvements around Adrian, most notably the future of Bohn Pool and the possibility of the city constructing a new public swimming facility.
“I will continue to keep my finger on this project,” he said.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian City Commission meets tonight with newly elected members
