Five finalists to interview for open seat on Laketown Township Board of Trustees

Evan Sasiela, Holland Sentinel
·2 min read
The Laketown Township Board of Trustees will interview five applicants for the opening on the board on Wednesday, Aug. 30.
The Laketown Township Board of Trustees will interview five applicants for the opening on the board on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

LAKETOWN TWP. — Five finalists will interview for an open position on the Laketown Township Board of Trustees later this month.

The finalists will interview during a special board meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30, at the Laketown Township Hall, 4338 Beeline Road — according to a news release. The interviews are open to the public.

Interview times and finalists are as follows:

  • 5 p.m. — Ray Buursma

  • 5:30 p.m. — Stacey Lefevre

  • 6 p.m. — Jay Cravens

  • 6:30 p.m. — Patrick Dietrich

  • 7 p.m. — Mike Van Putten

The board will either choose a new trustee after the interviews or delay the decision, according to the release.

Laketown Township has an open seat on its board after Treasurer Gary Dewey retired on July 31. The board appointed Trustee Jim Johnson to take Dewey’s place as treasurer on July 12 — leaving an open trustee seat.

More: Gary Dewey says goodbye to Laketown Township government after 34 years

More: How will Laketown Township go about selecting a new trustee?

The new trustee will serve through the November 2024 election, according to the release.

There were 13 applications for the open seat. Laketown Township Manager Al Meshkin thanked all applicants for their interest.

Buursma was a public-school teacher for 29 years, according to his resume. He was also a corrections officer for eight years. Buursma is a community columnist for The Sentinel.

Lefevre is assistant controller-financial assurance at Grand Valley State University and is a certified public accountant with experience in accounting, budgeting, audit preparation and grant reporting, according to her application.

Cravens was the director of development for the Town of Collierville in Tennessee from 2016 until he retired in 2022, according to the release. He was the city manager of Bloomfield Hills and township manager of Cascade Charter Township.

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Dietrich was an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard; chair of the Holland chapter of the Holland chapter of SCORE, a volunteer organization that provides free mentoring services to local business; worked with Deloitte & Touche as a business consultant; and Northrup Grumman/TRC Security on the Homeland Security Assessment Team.

Van Putten did not provide a resume to the township but said he works for a Michigan manufacturer that specializes in storm and sewer water quality, according to the release.

— Contact reporter Evan Sasiela at esasiela@sentinel-standard.com. Follow him on Twitter @SalsaEvan.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Laketown Township board to select from 5 finalists to fill open seat