Roehrig said bad behavior led to three-day headache
By Barb Pert Templeton
A 6-1 vote of the Marine City Commission prompted the formal adoption of Resolution 22-2023 calling for the censure of Commissioner Michael Hilferink by his fellow board members at a recent meeting. Hilferink voted against the resolution.
Marine City Commissioner Michael Hilferink demonstrates the size of a Bluetooth speaker he utilized on Aug. 3 to play the Star-Spangled Banner and a reading of the U.S. Constitution to fellow commissioners.
The resolution was an agenda item at an Aug. 17 commission meeting and was meant to condemn and express disproval of the behavior and actions taken by Hilferink at during a public meeting on Aug. 3, 2023.
During that meeting, the commission went into a planned closed session and when they reconvened the meeting as public there was no longer a video crew there and it’s alleged that those moments are the ones where Hilferink continued to be disruptive.
The censure resolution stated that Hilferink was asked to terminate several loud recordings by Mayor Jennifer Vandenbossche and by local law enforcement but refused to do so.
At the recent meeting Mayor Jennifer Vandenbossche said she wanted to clarity that the censure of Hilferink, Resolution 22-2023, was prepared by her following the actions and the conduct of Hilferink at a previous meeting. She then made the motion to adopt the resolution and Commissioner Jacob Bryson seconded the motion.
During the discussion portion of the process Hilferink said he just wanted to state that the “loud music” he played was the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner followed by a reading of the U.S. Constitution.
“Because I felt there was a lot of people at this table that needed a reminder of what the constitution means and how important free speech is,” Hilferink said. “And there wasn’t a lot of honesty as far as what that closed session evaluation of our city manager was going to be instead there was an attack on me so I had to stop it.”
Commissioner Rita Roehrig gave a MIOSHA definition of loud noise in the workplace noting that it occurs when you have to shout to be heard by a coworker just an arm’s length away.
“Despite repeated shouted requests Commissioner Hilferink refused to turn off the extremely loud and high-pitched music,” Roehrig said. “It was immediately painful to me and I had to leave the room, by the time I got home that evening I had an earache and an awful headache that persisted for the next three days.”
“The stunt pulled off by Commissioner Hilferink was unprofessional, unnecessary and was dangerous to the hearing of commissioners and city employees; remember freedom of speech does not mean freedom of consequences,” she added.
Hilferink responded by apologizing to Roehrig and stating that he never meant to cause an injury and he noted, for the public, that the blue tooth speaker was small and only goes to a certain sound level.
“It was never my intention for any of that to happen, it was just my intention to get the meeting adjourned to stop the shaming and attacks on me,” Hilferink said.
Now adopted by the commission, the resolution will be kept on file at the city offices.
