The South Lyon City Council has appointed a new member, but not without some discord and social media backlash.

The South Lyon City Council met last week and appointed Stephen Kennedy to fill a vacant seat after interviewing four applicants. Kennedy is a management consultant who has lived in South Lyon for 45 years, is well known throughout the community and regularly attends meetings. It was a split vote, with Mayor Dan Pelchat and members Glenn Kivell, Mary Parisian and Carl Richards voting in favor of appointing Kennedy. The vacancy resulted with the resignation of Joe Ryzyi and Kennedy will serve out the remainder of his term, which expires in 2019.

The other applicants being considered were Joyce Clohosey, who ran for city council, and two mayoral write-in candidates, Ashley Enstad and William Powell. Kennedy was the only applicant who did not run for office last November, which didn’t sit well with some members according to the South Lyon Herald. Councilwoman Margaret Kurtzweil wanted Clohosey to be appointed based on vote totals from the November election, since she finished fourth in the race for three council seats.

Since last Thursday’s meeting, there has been some backlash on social media in regard to Councilman Richards line of questioning during the interview for Clohosey, asking if she recently had a baby. The stay at home mother of two works part time but had already indicated she was available. Therefore, Clohosey responded that she really didn’t see what having a baby had to do with the discussion. The questioning was called out by one of the other candidates on Facebook, the link is provided. Ashley Enstad said she was appalled by the "interview" questions asked by Councilman Richards, which she felt were highly inappropriate and not relevant to the position. She noted the baby comment and another asking a candidate if he lived with his mother or was married. (JM)