Erik Robinette to fill vacant City Commission seat; George Ross updates members

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The Mount Pleasant City Commission has welcomed a new member to its ranks.

Commissioner Sharon Tilmann recommended Erik Robinette to fill a vacancy at Monday’s meeting, which other commissioners approved. David McGuire stepped down from his position Feb. 28.

Robinette has been serving on the planning commission since January 2008.

“It was always one of my hopes and dreams to one day be a part of City Commission, so I’ve been working to get my feet wet with city government and politics,” Robinette said.

Robinette has also worked on the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Commissioners were pleased with the turnout of applicants vying for the position.

“I was very impressed with the number and quality of candidates that applied,” said Commissioner Nancy English. “I would encourage those people to run for the Planning Commission now that there is a vacancy.”

Robinette sees maintaining safety and finding effective ways to do business as a few important things he hopes to help and give perspective on as a member of the commission.

“I’m excited to be part of this and it’s a good opportunity,” he said. “There’s a good synergy in the city now and I want to keep that going.”

Ross speaks

At a work session before the regular meeting University President George Ross provided city commissioners Monday with a College of Medicine update and a new member was named to the administrative body.

Accompanying Ross to the meeting were members of his executive leadership team at Central Michigan University; including Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Development and External Relations, Renee Walker, associate vice president of University Communications, General Counsel Manuel Rupe, Provost Gary Shapiro and David Burdette, vice president of finance and administrative services.

Speaking for the first time at a Mount Pleasant City Commission meeting, Ross began by explaining the growth CMU has seen since it was founded 119 years ago. The university began with 31 students wanting to become teachers.

“We’ve come a long way since then,” Ross said. “At CMU we now enroll over 28,000 students with about 21,000 students at this campus.”

One of Ross’ main topics was the university’s budget and discussing fair and equitable funding for higher education.

At one point the university was being funded with 75-percent state support, but that is now down to 19 percent, he said.

Although CMU has grown 20 percent in the past 12 years, it still receives the third-lowest amount of funding per student, he said.

“Some are (growing) like us, but most are not,” Ross said.

Provost Gary Shapiro spoke about the College of Medicine and its progress.

Shapiro said the college is interviewing potential faculty and developing partnerships with local hospital and health care facilities.

“What we are doing in the offices is not visible, but it’s extremely important,” he said.

With the addition of the medical school, Shapiro hopes students would serve and complete their residency locally and stay in the state.