Marquette City Commission fills vacant commission seat

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - The Marquette City Commission voted unanimously on Monday to elect Jermey Ottaway to fill the vacant city commission seat.

Ottaway is one of nine people the city commission considered to fill the seat left vacant by 109th State House District Elect Jenn Hill (D).

At the time he was elected, Ottaway was a Marquette Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board member. Ottaway will have to resign from that position since he is now on the Marquette City Commission.

Besides thanking the commission, Ottaway echoed the importance of serving your community during his first speech as a commissioner on Monday.

“I do want to echo Commissioner Stonehouse and just really talk about how important it is to serve your community,” Ottaway said.

“Whether it is on a city board serving with MarqTran, serving on a county board or anything else, get involved. I can tell you that all of us here do more than just serve on the city commission,” Ottaway continued.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the commission unanimously appointed Lauren Tilma to the Marquette Public Art Commission.

The commission also approved a study group to recommend possible changes to Marquette’s charter in 2023.

Commissioner Evan Bonsall further requested that Mayor Cody Mayer schedule a city commission meeting in 2023 to discuss transforming vacant city-owned property into affordable housing.