CITY OF BUCHANAN COMMISSION UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
BUCHANAN – With a controversy averted over alleged actions by City Commissioner Dan Vigansky, the city of Buchanan appears ready to move forward with action on some ongoing projects and the arrival of new City Manager Ben Eldridge.
The Vigansky controversy took center stage at the last two City Commission meetings. Commissioners voted June 26 to hold a public hearing on complaints made by resident Tony Houser against Vigansky.

That hearing had been scheduled for July 10 but was canceled after Houser withdrew his complaint.
Houser had alleged that Vigansky had violated the city’s Code of Conduct and Ethics by using profanity in two private conversations, revealed information from Commission closed session meetings and disrupted a Buchanan Area Recreation Board meeting in June.
Vigansky himself addressed the matter during his comments at the end of last week’s City Commission meeting. He thanked Houser for withdrawing the complaint. He added that while others had criticized Houser for filing the complaint, he said he would defend Houser’s right to do so.
“The circle I run in wanted to assassinate you,” Vigansky told Houser who was in attendance at the meeting. “I defended you. You have a First Amendment right to speak.”

While Vigansky didn’t criticize Houser, he did criticize fellow city commissioners for voting to hold the hearing in the first place as well as the city attorney for his advice on the subject. He noted that others besides Houser had accused him of misfeasance which he denied.
“The only thing I’m guilty of is being politically incorrect,” he said. “I’m not going to apologize for my personality … If people really listen to anything I’m saying, it’s all about the money and trying to keep the city from spending too much.”
Vigansky was defended by people at the start and end of the meeting. Cass County resident Roger Boyer said he came to support Vigansky and hadn’t been aware that the hearing had been cancelled.
“I’m pretty convinced that he has been pretty much singled out because he’s willing to stand up,” he said. “I want you to understand that people support him in and out of the county.”
Buchanan resident Carla Johnson suggested that the commission reconsider the Code of Conduct and Ethics it passed a few years ago. She noted that under state law, only the governor can remove a local elected official and then only for things like official misconduct, willful neglect of duty, extortion, habitual drunkenness or a felony conviction.
“You need to reconsider your Code of Ethics,” she said. “Because when you weaponize it, you open a Pandora’s box. I put together documentation for complaints against three other covered individuals for doing exactly what Dan was accused of.”
She said the complaint filed against Vigansky had done nothing but divide the community. “This could have become a Hatfield and McCoy feud ending in even more damage than the process of approving and setting up a hearing has already caused,” she said. “That damage is irreparable enough.”
“People had to pay for lawyers and suffer unnecessary stress and damage to their reputations and not just Dan,” she added. “Supporters of both sides were upset and would have been here tonight despite a hostile environment. You set the gossip mills on fire, and further lost faith in City Hall … Was it really worth it? Why did this happen?”
Last week’s meeting was new City Manager Ben Eldridge’s second commission meeting since starting his new duties. He was selected to be the new city manager in early May after commissioners interviewed him and two other finalists. He started his duties in Buchanan June 26.
Eldridge, 51, and his wife, Michelle, live in Goshen and have two grown children. He is a professional water and wastewater operator with over 20 years of experience in local government management and operations and community development.
Eldridge said last week that he’s excited by what he’s seen of Buchanan in his first two weeks on the job. “I’ve been here two weeks, it’s exciting to be here,” he said. “We have a great group of employees and I think everyone is ready to move forward and leave the past in the past.”
In action at last week’s meeting, commissioners approved the purchase of new timekeeping software which should make city government run more efficiently. The quote from Time Clock Plus was approved, with a one-time cost of $10,689 and an annual cost of $6,264.
Commissioners also approved two downtown façade grant applications. The façade grant application allows downtown businesses get 60 percent or up to $10,000 of projects paid for by the city.
Applications were approved with Vigansky voting no for McCoy’s Creek Tavern and Lehman’s Orchard Brewery Farmhouse. The McCoy’s Creek Tavern project involves replacing the awning at a total cost of $6,428. The Lehman’s project involves installing a new patio seating area along the creek at a total cost of $20,136.
Community Development Director Rich Murphy told commissioners that “Buchanan is hot right now” with both existing projects moving forward and new people interested in investing in the city. “People are seeing that stuff is happening here,” he said.
Commissioners approved a request for proposals for the city-owned vacant lot at 123 Days Ave., again with Vigansky voting no. A similar request for proposals for the Ross-Sanders House came back with only the Michigan Gateway Community Foundation submitting a bid which will now be under review by the city.
A groundbreaking has been set for the new Department of Public Works building. It is set for this week on Thursday, July 20 at 1 p.m. Construction is expected to be done by next March.