He takes to Facebook to plead his case to the public
By Barb Pert Templeton
Taking action to censure a fellow board member isn’t something seen often in local political circles but after just nine months in office in Marine City, Commissioner Micheal Hilferink finds himself on that short list.
The resolution to consider Hilferink’s censure is an item on the agenda for this Thursday’s Aug. 17 regular commission meeting at 7 p.m. and is listed under ‘Action Items – g.”
The resolution reads in part:
Whereas the purpose of this Censure is to condemn and express disproval of the behavior and actions taken by Commissioner Michael Hilferink at and during a public meeting on Aug. 3, 2023.
Whereas, during the public meeting on Aug. 3, 2023 while in the position of a sitting City Commissioner, Hilferink acted in a manager that disrupted the ability of the City Commission to conduct scheduled city business.
Whereas, during the public meeting Hilferink did cause loud music and other recordings to be played and amplified at levels of volume that were disruptive, disrespectful and injurious to the other city commissioners and those present at the meeting.
A document sharing the Censure Resolution of Commissioner Michael Hilferink
The resolution goes on to state that Hilferink was asked to terminate the loud recordings by Mayor Jennifer Vandenbossche and by local law enforcement but he refused to do so. The resolution says that it is to express the commissions disapproval of the “outrageous and disruptive behavior” and should it be adopted by the commission will be kept on file at the city offices.
On August 11, Hilferink took to the Facebook page, Marine City – Citizens Complaints and Grievances for Better Transparency, to share his side of the story. The page is one created by Hilferink and to post comments one must join the group but otherwise it’s open to the public for viewing.
“Yep, knew the attacks would keep coming,” Hilferink begins his post. “Uh oh…censure. Which is simply a “formal statement of disapproval”, BUT it can be used as a reason to recall me. A recall would come down to a vote of you, the people, in order to remove me from office.”
He went on to state that he had nothing to be ashamed of because he was simply filibustering at a non-public meeting where the topic was to be a performance evaluation of the City Manager but turned out to be “a shaming and bullying tactic to get me to shut up.”
The resolution stating Hilferink’s behavior occurred during a “public meeting” while he states it was not a public gathering is due to the fact that the commission went into a planned closed session at the end of the August 3 meeting. When they reconvened and reopened the meeting as public there was no longer a video crew there to film the actions and it’s alleged that those moments are the ones where Hilferink continued to be disruptive.
Rejecting the resolution point by point
The Facebook post had Hilferink stating that his “favorite part of the resolution of lies below is where I played music/recordings so loud, that apparently it was “injurious”, or actually caused injury.”
He continued:
“So, here’s the truth:
1. It wasn’t really loud, it was played on a small Bluetooth speaker, and definitely not amplified.
2. I played the star-spangled banner first, followed by a reading of the full constitution because I DID have the floor (meaning my turn to speak) to do so and felt it was relevant to do since some sitting at that table seem to have forgotten what the constitution is and what it means.
3. I did this in order to get the closed session NON-PUBLIC (despite it saying “public” meeting) attack on myself to stop, and have the meeting adjourned, and it was, within 10 minutes of me starting to play the national anthem.
“Am I proud of it, of course not. And I do, absolutely apologize to the people of MC, that again, politics in our city are a mess. But I am also not proud of those sitting at that table, and how I’m being attacked relentlessly,” Hilferink wrote.
City officials declined to comment on the situation at this time citing the fact that the issue is on the upcoming commission meeting agenda.
The Marine City Commission meets at 260 South Parker Street at 7 p.m.
