City Officials in Farmington, Hills Take Office

Newly elected council members in and , and Farmington Hills' fifth elected mayor, all took office Monday night before their respective council meetings.

In Farmington, council members elect colleagues to serve as mayor and mayor pro tem. Because the council has three new members, current Mayor Tom Buck volunteered to continue, and he was unanimously elected.

The election for the position of mayor pro tem came down to a split vote, with Bill Galvin, who was appointed in late September to fill the term of former Mayor Pro Tem Mike Wiggins, and longtime council member JoAnne McShane both expressing interest in the position.

New council member Kristin Kuiken nominated Galvin, who voted for himself after nominating McShane, and was supported by Kuiken and new council member Greg Cowley.

At Farmington Hills City Hall, retiring Mayor Jerry Ellis presided over the meeting until new Mayor Barry Brickner took his oath of office. Returning council members Ken Massey and Randy Bruce and newcomer Richard Lerner took their oaths of office in unison. The new council elected their colleague Nancy Bates to serve as mayor pro tem; she'll take her oath of office at the council's Nov. 28 meeting

In a brief statement, Ellis noted the number of projects that had been completed during his 25 years of service to the city: four parks, , , a splash park in , the , the , , two fire stations, the and the rehabbing of City Hall.

"I don't think in the next 25 years we're going to be doing that much building," he added.

Brickner presented Ellis with a memento of his time in city service: a framed collage that included images of the buildings and parks he mentioned.

Officials breezed through a quick agenda that included awarding a towing contract to Keford's Towing in Novi and approving a resolution opposing state House and Senate bills that would make sweeping changes to the state's no-fault insurance laws.