Board sets meeting to choose manager finalists

Special meeting is 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 15 at the township hall.

The Laketown Township Board of Trustees is meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 15, 2025, to decide on finalists for the manager position.

The special meeting is at the township hall, 4338 Beeline Road.

The board interviewed four manager candidates over almost 4 hours in a special meeting on Monday night, July 14. The candidates are Howard Fink, Stephanie Fox, David Grumney and Lynne Ladner.

Each candidate was asked 16 questions and given a chance to ask questions of the board and give a closing statement.

Video of the meeting is available to view here.

For more information on each candidate, visit here.

Fink is the current Park Township manager where he has served since 2017. He served as township manager for Northfield Township from 2013 to 2017.

Fox is currently an executive assistant in the City of Kentwood where she has served since 2023. She was county administrator in Ionia County from 2011-2022.

Grumney is full-time administrative captain on training and health/safety at Graafschap Fire Department. Before that, he was an independent emergency management consultant.

Ladner was town manager of the Town of Ocean Ridge, Florida, from 2022-2025. Before that, she was the city manager of Hart, Michigan, from 2018-2021.

The board held two closed sessions in accordance with the Open Meetings Act to narrow the 45 candidates down to the four who were interviewed.

Past and future

Longtime Manager Al Meshkin retired earlier this year. After finalists for the manager position declined offers in January, the board put the new search on hold while members received training on the manager-council form of government from an outside firm and learned to better work together.

On June 11, the board unanimously agreed to begin advertising the full-time manager position with a salary and incentive compensation range of $115,000 to $135,000 not including benefits.

Final candidates will attend a meet-and-greet at Graafschap Fire Department, 4534 60th St., at 11 a.m. July 21. At 6 p.m. that day, final interviews will be held with the board at the township hall.