Marquette mayor, city council member resign

MARQUETTE - The mayor and one city council member in Marquette have resigned due to the council's lack of action on a zoning violation.

On Wednesday, recently elected Marquette Mayor Dave Schneider and Council member Rinda Ferguson - along with Marquette Board of Adjustment member Tracy Melver - announced their formal resignation from their respective city positions.

Schneider did not return a call from The Gazette seeking comment, but the statement he presented the council with Wednesday detailed that his resignation was effective immediately.

'I cannot be part of a city government that will not follow through on the oaths of office that we were sworn to uphold,” according to Schneider's statement.

Dean Hilgerson, in his Marquette city manager, said he could not speak for those who resigned, but said the resignations are tied to a zoning violation that first came before the council in July in which an occupied mobile home was located on a parcel of land not zoned for mobile home use.

Hilgerson said Marquette code only allows mobile homes in areas zoned for mobile home parks, but this specific trailer was located in a residential subdivision.

'The council instructed the city attorney to stand down and not proceed with any more court proceedings,” Hilgerson said Thursday. 'These people who resigned said, ‘That's not right,' that's really what it was about.”

The remaining four councilors will be tasked with appointing a new member to the city Board of Adjustment and then deciding whether to appoint to fill the vacant mayor and council member seats or host a special election.

Mayoral terms are two years and council members serve four-year terms. Both terms left vacant by Schneider and Ferguson expire at the end of 2017.

Elected in last November's election, Schneider was mayor for less than one month.

Wednesday's resignations follow the announced resignations by Hilgerson - effective April 9 - and City Attorney James Garrett - effective April 1. Both those resignations were announced earlier this month.

Hilgerson, who just entered his eighth year as city manager, said his resignation is not necessarily tied to the zoning matter.

'I just decided it was best that I leave,” he said.

Garrett's resignation was made so he could spend more time with his family, Hilgerson said.

Located in Clayton County, Marquette's population was 462 in the 2010 Census.