By Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com

A veteran member of the Brighton City Council for the last seven years announced at last Thursday’s meeting that he will not be running for another term.

Jon Emaus, who lives with his wife, Erin, and son in the Hamilton Farms Condominiums, is a local attorney.

Emaus was appointed in June of 2016 to fill a vacancy created by the departure of Shanda Willis, who resigned for health reasons. Emaus was elected to a 4-year term the following year. He was then re-elected in 2021, garnering a 2-year term ending in November of this year.

"It’ll be seven years (and) that’s long enough,” Emaus told fellow council members upon announcing his decision. He then threw out the gauntlet to any citizen who might be interested in running for council, saying four positions will be up for grabs this year. “Everyone in Brighton should at one point serve this city and give back to the community,” Emaus said. Other council members expressed their thanks to him for his seven years of service to the city.

Emaus serves on the Brighton Veterans Memorial Committee and is on the Downtown Development Authority Board.

The terms of Mayor Pro Tem Jim Bohn, Susan Gardner and Paul Gipson also are set to expire this November. Since the terms are staggered, the other three council members’ terms don’t expire until 2025.

According to City Clerk Tara Brown, anyone who has been a city resident for at least two years is eligible to run for council. The positions are nonpartisan and the person isn’t required to be a city property owner. Interested individuals may pick up nominating petitions at city hall during regular office hours (Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-to-4 p.m.). They must be signed by not less than 21 and not more than 40 signatories, who must be city residents.

The deadline for submitting signed petitions is April 25th at 4 p.m. If there are more than eight candidates there will be a primary election on Aug. 8th, as there was in 2021, with the top eight vote-getters advancing to the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 7th.