Harbor Springs Update: Leadership, Zoning, and What Happens Next

### The Brief - The next scheduled Planning Commission meeting is tonight Thursday, November 20th. They will continue discussions on the proposed draft zoning code, in preparation for submission to the City Council and Capital Improvement projects. Agenda Zoom Meeting, You Tube

- City Council meets Monday, December 1st and December 15th, at 7 p.m. Check here for the agenda when available: City Website, Zoom Meeting, You Tube

- The Parks and Rec meet on Tuesday, December 9 at 5:30. The DDA and ZBA all meet on Wednesday, December 10th. The schedules and information are available here: Meeting Calendar.

- Remember the Planning Commission only makes a recommendation on zoning to the City Council. It is only the City Council that can decide on zoning updates.

### Dear Community, It has been a few weeks since we wrote about recent meetings. October and November are always full, and we’ve been answering many calls and emails. Kudos to City Hall staff, planners, and administrators who do the essential work. They bring expertise, data, and professional judgment. They prepare the Capital Improvement Projects (CIP), draft budgets, and identify infrastructure needs and regulatory requirements. But they are not the decision makers. It is a process that involves everyone - residents and officials alike.

We Love Harbor Springs and City Hall have been asking residents to consider serving on boards and commissions for a reason: public money, public priorities, and public projects should ultimately be shaped by the community and its elected representatives. There are many people in the area with substantial expertise. For example, if you are a retired builder or architect, you have the unique ability to add some wisdom to the process, while avoiding conflict that might occur if you had matters before the planning commission. Your wisdom helps the community make good decisions. You do not need an invitation to be involved. Participation Application

Residents can and should attend meetings, submit comments, ask questions, and insist on timelines that allow meaningful participation *before* decisions are made, not after. Too often, we all find ourselves “catching up” once a project is already underway. The State Street narrowing was a clear example of that.

This Thursday, November 20th, the Planning Commission will review budgets for many of the projects under its purview. When it comes to the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), the community has every right to question spending priorities and offer input early, before decisions are finalized.

In addition, City Planner Lynee Wells of Aligned Planning, hired by We Love Harbor Springs, has submitted several final community-based recommendations and suggestions to the Planning Commission regarding the Zoning Code. We extend a sincere thank-you to Jeff Grimm for meeting with residents and incorporating many of their suggestions.

We believe the October 21, 2025 Proposed Zoning Code, ideally with all of Lynee Wells’ recommendations included, is current, community-informed, and ready for City Council review. It represents the thoughtful step toward a future that respects Harbor Springs’ character and respects the participation of the community that took part in the building of the code.

Thank you to the Planning Commissioners for listening and engaging throughout this process.

Please attend.

### City Hall The election was won by Jeannie Benjamin and Kathy Motshall. They were sworn in, and the community is happy with their choices. Thank you each for your service!

Victor Sinadinoski has submitted his resignation, with his last day set for December 16, 2025. He has served as City Manager since 2019. Residents who wish to thank him for his service can email him at citymgr@cityofharborsprings.com or send a letter or card to City Hall. Please include your name and address.

We thank Victor for his leadership and dedication to the Harbor Springs community over the past 6.5 years.

Victor’s recommendation for an interim manager was in last week’s City Council packet.

“My recommendation for an interim city manager would be Chief Kyle Knight, if he is willing to accept. He has a good working relationship with staff and Council, and is well-known and respected in the community. He would have significant support from Clerk Whitaker, Assessor Grimm, and Parks Director Roon, and he has Sargent Bishop to take the lead on many of the police department’s duties, freeing up his time for managerial duties. I recommend settling on an interim manager as soon as possible. This would give me a couple of weeks to help the interim manager with the transition.”

His recommendation was approved at last week’s City Council meeting, and Chief Knight accepted the position. Practically effective after December 16th, Victor’s last day.

A Request for Proposals for the Executive Search Firm for City Manager Recruitment is now published.

### On Our Way to the Future - -

Mayor Tom Graham’s Harbor Springs existed long before he was born. His knowledge of local history, his love of old postcards, and his experience in real estate are well known and broadly respected.

Aware of the city manager’s resignation, and with a pending election, Mayor Graham and Council Member Wendy Reeve scheduled a meeting for October 30th with County Clerk Nick Whitaker. Nick had previously served as interim City Manager. Graham and Reeve sought to educate themselves about the process for the City Manager’s replacement. The former Harbor Springs City Manager was also invited, an old friend of both Mayor Graham and Council Member Reeve.

The meeting was held at noon at City Hall, and unfortunately, it sparked a firestorm among residents demanding that the Mayor and Council Member resign, accusing them of violating the OMA and City charter. But before anyone jumps to conclusions, one or two central points matter:

Under the Open Meetings Act (OMA), two elected officials may meet to discuss city business. Not vote, not decide simply discuss. That standard was met.

In the heat of these meetings, and even last week, some voices called for Mayor Graham and Council Member Reeve to step down. But calls like that ignore the facts: City Attorney Jim Ramer says this was a meeting, not misconduct. Meeting with City employees is not grounds to remove elected representatives. And it is certainly not a standard that We Love Harbor Springs accepts as proportional. Asking for information regarding Harbor Springs’ future seems logical. The City charter does not really provide a means of removal for the accusations made.

At the City Council meeting, City Attorney Jim Ramer was asked for a legal determination on whether the “noon meeting” violated the OMA or the City Charter. He stated plainly that there was no OMA violation.

Attorney Ramer said: “I’ve given my opinion to the council and it’s in their hands right now. I’m not going to discuss it publicly unless they want me to.”

### Political Optics and the Withholding of an Explanation A final consideration is political optics. We do not know what the legal memo concludes, and whether the explanation by City Attorney Ramer of a City Charter violation did or did not occur.

The majority of the former Council voted not to release the opinion, creating yet more ambiguity. An ambiguity that leaves the public without a definitive answer. Whether intended or not, withholding the memo keeps the situation unresolved and allows the controversy to continue. There is an old saying, “ To solve division, create a table long enough for every voice to sit down.”

We Love Harbor Springs did discuss the matter with our legal counsel. Our counsel’s opinion, based on all the available evidence, is that Tom and Wendy did not violate the City Charter or OMA. Any effort to remove them would require due process. The memo from the City attorney is not due process. Further, our counsel felt the City Charter does have multiple ambiguities in its drafting. But it is unproductive, in that ambiguity, to interpret the City Charter as intending to prevent a member of City Council from speaking with staff outside council chambers to educate themselves on city matters.

### A Path Forward: Stay Involved, Stay Informed, Stay Encouraged Harbor Springs is a small town with a long memory and a big heart. We do our best work not when we agree on every issue, but when we participate, ask questions, and insist that our government operate openly and fairly. The situation surrounding this legal opinion is a reminder of how important community involvement truly is.

City Council’s recent discussions about standards of conduct for Council Members, Boards and conflicts of interest are exactly the kinds of conversations we want to have. These are healthy steps toward clearer expectations, stronger ethics, and greater transparency in local government. Reminding council members of the importance of integrity should signal that the community that no matter where any of us stand on the issues, targeting council members who are not part of the majority weakens the integrity of the Council as a whole. All five elected officials deserve to participate without pressure, intimidation, or personal attacks.

We are encouraged to see this work for all of us to move forward, and we hope more residents will become engaged. When we show up, speak up, and stay informed, Harbor Springs grows stronger, not divided. Together, we can ensure our town remains a place defined by fairness, openness, and shared responsibility. Harbor Springs at its best. Join a board or commission this year to make it so! Deadline is Thursday, 9 am, December 11th, and appointments will be made December 15th, 2025.

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### Letters We hire City managers only now and then. The process seems to move around. This spurred Carter Williams to write this email to the City Council on a proposed approach. We hope it’s helpful.

Sent: Monday, November 10, 2025 8:23 PM

Tom Graham; Reeve 4 HS Council; Jamielynnmelke@gmail.com; kathy.motschall@yahoo.com; Jeanne Benjamin, Cc: Victor Sinadinoski

Subject: City Manager Search Process

Dear Council Members,

I won’t be at Monday’s meeting, but I wanted to share some thoughts on the city manager search based on what I’ve learned hiring executives over the years. Use a professional search firm: This will cost $50K-$60K, which I know feels like a lot. But in my experience, the best candidates aren’t actively looking. They’re performing well somewhere else. Search firms know how to quietly reach these people and convince them to consider a move. When you handle searches internally, you typically get whoever happens to be job hunting at that moment. That’s a much smaller and often weaker pool.

Keep this at the full council level: Don’t delegate this to a subcommittee. That creates the appearance (fair or not) that a few people are making the decision behind closed doors. This is too important for that perception. The whole council should own the process, and the community should see you owning it. Educate the public early: Have the search firm and Michigan Municipal League explain how this works at your November 17th meeting. Spend 30 mins on the topic. Give them each 5-10 minutes. Most residents have never seen a city manager search. When people understand the mechanics and timeline, you’ll get less speculation and more useful input.

Get community input in December: Set aside time for residents and non-resident property owners to tell you what matters to them in a city manager. Encourage them to send in written comments rather than use up lots of 3 min slots. Some will care about infrastructure expertise, others about budget discipline, others about communication style. You’re not designing by committee, you’re gathering intelligence. The search firm can synthesize themes, you finalize the profile, and make the call.

This takes time: A good search takes 90-120 days, maybe longer. I know there’s pressure to move fast, but I’ve learned the hard way that rushing executive hires is expensive. A bad fit costs you years of dysfunction and staff turnover. Use an interim manager and take the time to get this right. I’d suggest finding the right candidate first, then figuring out compensation based on their value and the market. Setting salary too early can box you in or cause you to overpay for the wrong person.

The City Manager job shapes everything in Harbor Springs. How the budget reflects priorities. Whether and when projects get delivered. How staff and residents experience local government. A transparent process that produces a strong candidate sets us up for years of stability.

There are many retired people in the area, you all likely know who have hired 100s of executives. Perhaps chat with them for perspective. You are juggling a lot, and this adds to it. I appreciate the time you’re putting into this. Happy to discuss any of this if useful.

Note: Please include this letter in the City Council packet.

Carter Williams carter@oiventures.com

355 East Bay Street, Harbor Springs, MI 49740