Library boardmember appointed to commission

Brandon Kolo to serve rest of late commissioner’s term

Royal Oak city commissioners Monday night appointed Brandon Kolo, a member of the city’s library boardandother community groups, to fill the unexpired commission termof the late Kim Gibbs.

Kolo, a former commission election candidate, was selected from among 41 applicants for the position after Gibbs died last month.

He emerged as a favorite among the majority of commissioners and was appointed in a 5-1 vote. City Commissioner Randy LaVasseur voted against Kolo’s appointment to the open seat, which will be up in next year’s general election.

Gibbs and City Commissioner Randy LaVasseur, both Republicans, typically voted together, often in opposition to the majority of

Democrats on theCityCommission. While City Commission elections are technically non partisan, commissioners and many of their supporters are generally aware of the commissioners’ political affiliations and positions.

LaVasseur favored naming Pamela Lindell to the commission. Lindell was the top vote getter among candidates who failed to get elected to the commission last year.

Kolo unsuccessfully ran for a partial twoyear term on the commission three years ago, one of the candidates allied with Mayor Michaell Fournier for his first elected term in office.

Kolo “came up 50 votes short in 2017,” said City Commissioner Melanie Macey, who was elected that year “But losing that race didn’t stophim from being involved.”

Kolo’s application for the commission seat lists his library board activity as vice president, and positions as chair of theOakland County Zoological Authority’s bylaws committee, one of the Detroit Zoological Board of Directors, and an organizerwith theLawsonRoad Neighborhood Association.

The newly appointed city commissioner submitted an 11-page application for the seat that is about four times longer than those of the other candidates.

Kolo got high marks for thoroughness, though a couple of the commissioners who supported him good naturedly suggested his application’s length was “maybe a little bit over the top.”

“It’s indisputable that his application stands out and he does have the experience,” Fournier said.

Themayor and amajority of the other commissioners said they wanted to appoint someone who could hit the ground runningwith an understanding of such things as budget, payroll andmaking policy decisions.

“Mr. Kolo and I don’t always agree on every issue,” Fournier said. “But you can divide on issues or you can engage in dialogue.”

He gave Kolo credit for favoring engagement over divisiveness. Fournier recalled how Kolo and other key members of his neighborhood association last year resolved objections they had over the development of the Epic on Harrison condominium project now underway at Harrison and Knowels street in the south end of the city.

Neighborhood leaders and the developer, Robert Wolfson, met to iron out the problems.

They “were able to solve some issues and get the developer to agree to some other things” neighbors wanted, Fournier said. “That wouldn’t have happened without Mr. Kolo challenging me and me.”

Republicans are aminority in Royal Oak, but still large enough to elect one or two candidates to the City Commission when there are multiple open seats in an election.

Lindell ran last year as an opponent of majority members on the commission.

LaVasseur wanted to appoint someone to Gibbs’ unexpired term who was more reflective of the late commissioner’s view. Lindell was one of the people he said he considered a good candidate for the appointment.

“Kim had a perspective that was different from the majority on the commission,” he said, adding that she represented a significant number of voters. “Mr. Kolo meets my criteria for his passion for the city. He does not meet my criteria for having a diverse viewpoint. There are a lot of people who feel their viewpoint is not represented at the table.”

Kolo is scheduled to take his seat on the City Commission at their next meeting Oct. 12. persuading

Thenewly appointedcity commissioner submittedan 11page application for the seat that is about four times longer than those of the other candidates.

Kolo