By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
Ortonville- On Nov. 6, village residents voted in a new village president.
Tonja Brice previously served as a council member on the board, and was elected into the position with goals and a vision.
“I think the biggest thing for me is that I desire to be a proactive not a reactive console,” said Brice.
“I have three basic things I want to concentrate on, communication, transparency and cooperation.”
Brice wants the board to work together with the Downtown Development Authority, the Planning Commission and other organizations in the area to work interdependently with all the resources there are available.
“There’s nothing I can do on my own,” she said. “The main thing is the master plan, and as that comes to fruition, we’ll see what the community wants. It’s not something our council decides. It’s really hard to say until you see that. For me, it is the things we can do as a council.”
Brice also knows that she has big shoes to fill as the past two presidents were dedicated to the community and had plans for it.
“We’ve had past excellent presidents that I’m following, I want to talk with both Wayne and Ken,” she said. “See the visions that they’ve set in place. When you do things are right, you don’t change things and when the world changes, you tweak things. It’s about finding the balance.”
She is also working on enhancing communication within the board itself and with the community.
On the second Tuesday of every month, she will be at the Edna Burton Senior Center to talk with senior residents, 11:15 a.m.-12:15 a.m. On the third Thursday of every month, starting in January, Brice and village manager Bill Sprague will have open discussion with any residents who come to the Old Town Hall.
“That’ll give us the chance to talk leading up to the master plan and after,” she said.
“We can come in and do our job, that’s a personal thing I am striving for.”