By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


The Livingston County Board of Commissioners has made a new appointment to the Huron Clinton Metroparks Board of Trustees.

The Board, last night, formally selected Floodgate Renewal Church in Brighton’s Senior Pastor, Bill Bolin, as the county’s representation. The post had been held by former Commissioner Steve Williams who had been seeking reappointment. This was opposed by Board Chair Wes Nakagiri who objected to certain “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” efforts of the Metroparks Board. The appointment spurred a change to appointment policy, giving the Board Chair his own candidate. The nomination committee selected Williams, but Nakagiri wanted Bolin.

Bolin was at Monday’s meeting and prepared to speak, but Williams wasn’t, leading to questions on whether he was invited and informed of the opportunity. Nakagiri said, “I made the assumption that those in support of Steve Williams would mention it to Steve. I guess it’s unfortunate that that didn’t happen. I don’t think that should, in my view, penalize Mr. Bolin or deny Mr. Bolin the opportunity to address the board.”

Bollin told Commissioners he is the right choice. He said, “Once I’m appointed to the Metroparks Board, you the Livingston County Board of Commissioners, will learn that you can trust your Metroparks appointee to vote in a manner that reflects the values of this commission and this county. In my opinion, it’s important you, as the Livingston County Board of Commissioners, understand that your selection of someone who shares your values and has the fortitude to stand up and make the right vote is important.”

Commissioners Carol Sue Reader and Doug Helzerman questioned the fairness and appropriateness of going forward if they didn’t know if Williams was invited. Nakagiri asked Helzerman if he wanted to take Williams’ time and speak on his behalf, to which Helzerman said, “Absolutely not. He is quite able to speak for himself.”

A recess was granted to allow Nakagiri to invite Williams, as per Helzerman’s request.

Williams appeared on Zoom and presented his qualifications, then stated, “I continue to be mystified why the short little DEI Program takes up so much time, because if somebody spends 2 hours in a class out of a 2000 hour work year, that works out to one-tenth of 1 percent of their time. I would like to focus on that other 99.99 percent. I believe that we have nothing but good things that have been accomplished…”

Commissioners then voted for one candidate or the other, with Bolin getting the 5 vote majority. His support came From Nakagiri, Jay Gross, Brenda Plank, Jay Drick, and Martin Smith. Williams received votes from Helzerman, Reader, Carol Griffith, and Mitchell Zajac.