Laketown Township clerk resigns to be township's community development director
LAKETOWN TWP. — Laketown Township Clerk Michelle Sall is resigning from her elected position but will continue serving the community in a new role.
Sall’s resignation, effective Aug. 14, was accepted by the township board during a meeting Wednesday, Aug. 10. Starting Monday, she will be Laketown Townships first full-time community development director.
Elected officials cannot be employees of the municipality in which they are elected, meaning Sall had to resign before starting her new role.
Sall, who previously served on the Parks and Recreation Commission, was first appointed as clerk in 2019 following the resignation of Wendy Van Huis. She was then elected to a four-year term in 2020.
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“I have enjoyed serving on the board and being a part of the many accomplishments in our beautiful community,” Sall wrote in her letter of resignation.
She thanked board members, manager and staff for their work and commitment.
“I would especially like to thank Deputy Clerk Jenifer French for her exemplary knowledge, patience and support of the election process and comradery in the office,” she added.
As community development coordinator, Sall will focus on planning, zoning and permits. She will also staff planning commissions and zoning board of appeals meetings and work on zoning environment and economic development throughout the township.
Township Treasurer Gary Dewey and Supervisor Linda Howell both thanked Sall for her work as clerk during Wednesday’s meeting.
“Michelle will be doing a very capable job for us, as she has done in the past as clerk and with the parks,” Dewey said. “Thank you for your service.”
“As clerk, you’ve done an incredible job,” Howell said. “It’s a tough job, a very detailed job. As a township voter, thank you. You’re going to be a very hard act to follow.”
The township is accepting applications for the clerk position through Aug. 22. A new clerk must be appointed within 45 days of Sall’s resignation date, which would be Sept. 28. The appointed clerk will serve until Nov. 2024, finishing Sall’s elected term.
Duties of the clerk include maintaining custody of all records, keeping the township ordinance book, recruiting and overseeing election workers, conducting elections, preparing financial statements, acting as cemetery sexton and managing the cemetery.
The clerk is also one of five members on the Laketown Township Board of Trustees.
Those interested can submit a résumé and letter of interest to Howell at the township office, 4338 Beeline Road, no later than Aug. 22.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Laketown clerk resigns to be township's community development director
