Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


“We voted for a reason – this does not look good for our Village”. That was the consensus of residents at Monday night’s Council meeting.

Current President Jeff Buerman was defeated by former President Linda Lavey in last Tuesday’s General Election with 56% of the vote. A police millage also easily passed. Of note, Buerman defeated Lavey by just 12 votes two years ago.

Three Council seats were also up - with the top three vote-getters being incumbent Rob Coppersmith, incumbent Nick Kane, and newcomer Cathy Hammer. Thus, last night marked Trustee Jo Self’s final meeting.

Buerman and Trustee Trish Wagner were both absent last night. President Pro-Tem Justin Bierman presided over the meeting.

In what was called a “shady” move that caught many residents by surprise, two resolutions were added to Monday night’s meeting agenda at the last minute to appoint Buerman as the “Village Manager and Zoning Administrator and establish an initial transition period”. The other was to establish compensation for elected and appointed officials.

A number of residents who caught wind of the resolutions and attempts by the current administration spoke out in force at call to the public, along with President-Elect Lavey.

Lavey stated “So this one really takes the cake – of all the things I’ve had to witness council doing in the past two years - the effort to continue the employment of Mr. Buerman as Village Manager and Zoning Administrator is an insult to the voters who went to the polls to get him out of Village Hall for good. Your arguments are for a transition period - where was the transition period at the end of 2024? Mr. Buerman with two years on Council - during which he was usually there – knew it all already and any attempts I made to tell him anything was like ‘talk to the hand”…As Village Manager, he proceeded to give himself two jobs for which he then and still has no demonstrable skills. So many errors were made and legal fees skyrocketed…He’s on his third treasurer, why would they quit? He hired new personnel without council review or posting the jobs, violated the HIPPA rights of at least one employee I know of, he lost the $2 million federal grant, failed to review the master plan for two years now, forced the DPW to unionize, and tried repeatedly to discredit and destroy the police department”.

Lavey went on to note the document that hired him in January 2025 as manager and zoning administrator says the president has the right to be the village manager and “I claim my right to fill those positions starting December 1st”.

Residents weighed in heavily.

Hammer commented the resolution set a three-month transition period “the incoming president has done this job people. We don’t need a transition period - it’s just more money that could be used in a different way to help balance our budget. She’s done it before without pay, so I think it’s kind-of an overkill at this point. And when Jeff became president, no one appointed Linda to do a transition period for him”.

One resident, who stated he was a former Councilman, spoke out after he caught wind of the proposed resolution to say “I think it’s a really bad look to pull this move right at this juncture after an election where he lost, and has held those positions for quite some time. This is a bad look for the Village…You don’t get to just appoint yourself in your last sway of meetings to, I don’t know if it’s a maintain of power, but it’s a really bad look for the Village. This is shifty to me”. He went on to encourage Council to find separate people for the manager and zoning roles, “which finding can be difficult but that doesn’t mean we just appoint the former president to this after he just lost an election - it’s a really bad look, it’s like small town, Pinckney is better than this...I really challenge Council members to look at this from the outside a little bit and really question what you’re proposing to do here tonight”.

Another resident commented “I think if this agenda had been out earlier - because I checked this morning and it was not - more voters would be here. I believe you are trying to overrule what the voters asked for. If they wanted him to continue, they would have voted for him and they did not. It wasn’t by a small margin either. I feel this isn’t going to over well for the voters in this Village”.

One resident said to have a former president step into those managerial roles in the Village seemed “burdensome” to the incoming president and that the transition period “seems odd”. Others called the move “a bit shady”, saying “elections have consequences - voters sent a message - a change in direction of leadership was necessary”.

One stated to those who wanted a change in leadership, the resolutions posted at the eleventh hour were a “screw you message” to voters and residents.

Others agreed it was disappointing to see the resolution added last minute, noting “it did not look very temporary”. One resident asserted “voters voted how they did for a reason – sorry to those who lost their positions but it happens. We voted. We voted for a reason. This does not look good for our Village…I’m so tired of seeing all this bad publicity about Pinckney. I don’t like seeing our tiny little village smeared in the news. I really would like to see things turnaround”.

There are also changeover allegations due to a hostile work environment.

Some residents referenced the way the DPW and Police have been treated by management, and “it just stinks”.

It was stated during the meeting that the DPW head also recently resigned, leaving a “big hole in administration”.

There have been significant cuts made to the Police Department over the last year at the order of Buerman and Council. Buerman earlier publicly banned Police Chief Jeff Garrison from making any comments to the media without his consent.

Also referenced was an investigation of Buerman by Michigan State Police alleging embezzlement and employee-related issues. At last check by WHMI, that was still ongoing. It was initially closed as unfounded but then re-opened for further investigation.

Buerman has denied the allegations and stated the following in an email earlier provided to WHMI:

“I stand behind my actions and welcome a fair review of the facts. The decisions we have made to address the Village’s financial challenges have not always been easy, but my focus remains on serving our residents and building a stable future for our community”.

Meanwhile, no one spoke in support of the proposed resolutions at call to the public.

Councilman Rob Coppersmith defended the resolutions, saying he drafted them to make sure the “Village is looked after”. He stated “I put these together, I apologize it was last minute. I did not intend it to be. I was on vacation with no laptop with me and arrived home yesterday evening, asked for it to be added to the agenda this morning, and it took a while to make it up there…The roles are budgeted for already and what I’m proposing doesn’t change any approved budgets. There’s a lot of stuff going on the Village, there needs to be some sort of continuity and nothing is binding”.

Legal counsel clarified that Buerman’s term as president ends December 1st so there would be no continuity of those positions from December 1st to the 14th - or until the new president is sworn in. The attorney stated there is clear case law that talks about how Council cannot bind the hands of a future council, and their recommendation would be that if the resolution were to move forward - then it needs to be re-voted on at the first meeting of the new Council.

Bierman commented “because of the nature of the last minute, think it would be smart to let this be decided at the next meeting…I think a little bit more time and understanding might put our community at ease”.

A motion was ultimately made to table the matter to a special meeting to be scheduled next week.

There was no action, or provided description, following a closed session for “disciplinary discussion”.

At the final call to the public, Lavey commented “I am disappointed that we would be starting the new administration in such an antagonistic way. It’s disappointing. I would say let’s mend bridges and carry on with the business of the Village as soon as possible”.

When given the opportunity for comments, concerns, and/or discussion of the council at the very end of the meeting – there was none and the meeting adjourned.

The two resolutions are attached.