WHITEHALL — Whitehall's city council confirmed the selection of Crystal Budde as the new treasurer at its regular meeting Tuesday. Budde was previously clerk and treasurer for the Village of Shelby.
According to discussion during the confirmation, which was made 6-0 (Scott Brown was absent from the meeting), Budde will start at Whitehall Monday, Oct. 20.
Whitehall clerk Brenda Bourdon said the city conducted "quite a few interviews" before determining Budde was the best fit. Council member Jeff Holmstrom said he has known Budde for many years and from his discussions with other Shelby employees, Whitehall "stole a good one" in Budde.
The city has been without a formal treasurer since Alyssa Seaver was demoted from the role in May by former city manager Scott Huebler, who has since retired. Huebler briefly took on those responsibilities prior to his retirement, but current city manager Dan Tavernier said the city charter does require someone to be in the treasurer role. A call to Tavernier had not been returned at press time.
Budde said Wednesday in a phone interview that she is originally from the White Lake area, having grown up in Montague and raised her children in Whitehall, so the ability to serve in her hometown community was appealing to her upon learning of the open position.
"Everyone was excited and eager to get things done," Budde said of her impressions of leadership in Whitehall. "They were welcoming in my interview and I was super comfortable with them. They seem to work really well together."
Budde said her adaptability will serve her well in her new Whitehall position; in nearly nine years working in Shelby, she worked with seven different village administrators. She was originally hired as treasurer, moved to the clerk position after a year, then took on both positions when the village council voted to merge them in April 2018.
"Being able to shift and adapt to how differently everybody works," Budde said of a strength of hers. "I'm wearing two different hats here, so I'm involved in a lot of different aspects of how things are run here."
Also during the council meeting, Whitehall confirmed a change to its election structure that will put city elections on the ballot in even years rather than in odd years, so the next elections after this November's will take place in 2028. As a result, current council members Tanya Cabala, Debi Hillebrand and Tom Ziemer, who were elected in 2023, had an extra year added to their terms, and the council members and mayor who are elected this November will also have an extra year added to their terms.
While the city charter calls for odd-year elections, Michigan Public Act 523, signed into law in 2012, allows municipalities to change their election dates by resolution. Tavernier proposed the change in August, saying it would save the city money to align with the even-year elections that take place at the state and federal levels. Hillebrand added during discussion Tuesday that voter turnout is traditionally higher in even years.
Odd-year elections could still take place for things like millage requests, but the bodies making the request would then be responsible for paying for election costs.
The council also approved Clifford Buck Construction out of Muskegon as the contractor to construct the West Colby Promenade. Clifford Buck had the low bid of $1,485,518 for the project. That figure far exceeded the budgeted $815,000, but the resolution noted that the project can save $440,000 by omitting a planned bandshell and bathroom. The resolution also says the city can sustain the other overruns by borrowing against future contributions to the Tax Increment Finance Authority.
Tavernier received approval from the council to use sewer and water funds for cost sharing as he applies for grants to help defray costs for the replacement of a lift station, a portion of Lake Street and 2,100 feet of wastewater force main. Up to $1.7 million from those funds, each of which has unencumbered balances of over $1.7 million, will be available to use as cost-sharing.
