Houghton will select three councilors from four candidates in November

Houghton’s city council will have three seats up for election in November. The city has four candidates registered for the election. Philip Foltz, was a former council member. He says that while on the council four years ago he brought experience from time working in public works.

“Having had the luxury of serving on the school board for as long as I have, we’ve always had other board members whose sole mission was to see that our schools were the best they could be. We haven’t had people with agendas, we haven’t had people with special interests. I hope to be able to bring what I’ve always got, and that is I’m about holding front, back, underneath, and on top. I want to make sure that this is the best community for all the people who live there.” – Philip Foltz, Houghton City Council Candidate

Brendan Leddy moved to Houghton three years ago. He studies Social sciences at Michigan Technological University with a concentration in policy law and works as the campaign manager for 110th district candidate Kim Corcoran. He says that though he works for a democratic campaign he views himself as an independent mind.

“What I want to continue to promote in the city council is that sustainability mindset and an open mindset of listening to the concerns of the people especially regarding housing. And that’s the one thing that I will say, definitely needs improvement, and this is not entirely on the city council, but when I moved into my apartment, the rent that I started to pay was six hundred fifty dollars a month and when I had somebody asked what the rent is now I called and asked and they said open new tenants it’s going to be nine hundred dollars yeah I was a three-year difference.” – Benden Leddy, Houghton City Council Candidate.

Brian Irizarry was voted onto the city council four years ago, and in 2022 was appointed as Mayor by the council. He says he’s gained a wealth of knowledge since then, despite the learning curve of not having experience running meetings previously.

“Once I became the presiding officer of the council and then how to make sure that everybody gets a fair voice and how it’s balanced. And so that that was sort of a technical thing I had to get used to. But then also just learning how to work with the city manager and the other city counselors and when we disagree how to make sure that everyone’s you know fairly heard and then the right conclusion is reached. I guess the you could say negotiating or compromise is always just a big part of any healthy city council and we had good debate and that was all just part of the learning curve as well.” – Brian Irizarry, Houghton City Council Candidate

Councilor Jan Cole will also run for a second term on the council. After joining the council, she says, the council had to learn quickly how to work together with different personalities and leadership styles.

“I mean that was one of the reasons I really wanted to do this. I don’t see myself as a, you know, an official or an elected official of any sort, but I really wanted to learn and I wanted to play a role in the direction our city took. I think we’ve worked through a lot of the issues.” – Virginia Cole, Houghton City Council Candidate

Houghton city council seats hold the position for four years. The city’s residents will chose three of the four candidates running for election in November. Those interested to hear more from each city council candidate can learn more with Todd Van Dyke on Copper Country Today’s September 29^th, 2024 episodes, find each podcast here.