Ortonville- The search is over.
The village council approved the hiring of Ed Coy as new village manager during their meeting Aug. 22.
Coy, 60, will start work Sept. 6 after moving to the area from Indiana, where he is currently the president of the Roanoke town council. Roanoke, which Coy described as a ‘cookie-cutter? of Ortonville, has a population of 1,495 and is about 20 miles from Fort Wayne.
Coy says he is looking forward to his new position and is excited.
‘I wanted to get into a governmental capacity where I could serve the people directly,? he said. ‘I want to be the contact between the citizens and the government to provide the interface.?
Coy has served four years as Roanoke council president and during two of those years also worked as a mortgage processing supervisor. Prior to that job, he was an administrative manager for two years at a manufacturing company. He also has extensive experience working in human resources? he was the human resources president at Bowmar Technologies for seven years and worked 18 years in the human resources department of a northern Indiana gas and electric company.
Coy earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Tri-State University in Angola, Indiana in 1969. He is married to Kathleen and has two grown children and a grandchild, with another on the way.
‘He’s definitely a gentleman,? says Sue Bess, village council president. ‘His description of his style of management is very positive for the village. We liked him the minute we met him.?
With the exception of a five-day period last month, the village has been without a manager since Paul Zelenak left May 16 to become city manager of Bloomfield Hills. The council hired Judy D. Andersen, who started work July 18 only to resign July 22 to take a job with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Bess believes that because Coy is willing to move here from Indiana is a good sign. ‘He is as interested in us as we are in him,? she said. ‘I think he will be a good fit for Ortonville.?
Coy knows just what he wants to do when he arrives.
‘I want to help the town be more efficient and make sure taxpayer’s money is well spent and make as many people happy as I can,? he said. ‘I would like to make a positive difference for the town.?