Monica Galloway, Flint City Councilmember, selected as 2021-22 MML Board President.
The new president of the Michigan Municipal League Board of Trustees is Flint City Councilmember Monica Galloway. This marks the fifth time in League history, dating back to 1899, that someone from the City of Flint was named president. And it’s the 10th time to have a president from a Genesee County municipality.
Here is a press release we shared with the media statewide about Galloway’s selection and selection of Sterling Heights Councilmember Barbara Ziarko as the board vice president.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 23, 2021
Flint City Councilmember Monica Galloway has been named as the Michigan Municipal League’s 2021-22 President.
Galloway was selected Board President by the 19-member Board of Trustees this week during the League’s Convention in Grand Rapids. The Board also named Sterling Heights City Councilmember Barbara Ziarko as vice president. Ziarko is now in line to become League President in 2022-23.
Galloway said her journey to serve as the League’s Board President wasn’t typical because she got started with the statewide nonprofit organization as a requirement. Eight years ago, when first elected to the Flint City Council, the city was under an emergency manager who required councilmembers to become Level 1 graduates of the League’s Elected Officials Academy (EOA). So, she did what was required, but found immense value in participating in the MML and stuck with it even when it was no longer mandatory. She has since become one of a just a dozen League members to complete all four levels of the EOA.
“The MML has been a lifeline for me,” Galloway said. “I’ve learned so much in terms of how to become a good community leader and local legislator. Now, to have the opportunity to be in a leadership role with the very organization that helped me so much is just amazing. It’s such an honor. I serve on a board with amazing leaders and to receive their confidence is very humbling.”
Barbara Ziarko, Sterling Heights City Councilmember, selected as 2021-22 MML Board Vice President.
League CEO and Executive Director Dan Gilmartin said the organization and membership are in good hands with Galloway and Ziarko at the helm.
“The League is fortunate to have Monica and Barbara as leaders of our Board,” Gilmartin said. “The depth of their varied experience, savvy, and knowledge will help elevate our organization in the next year as the League assists municipalities to build community wealth, emerge from the pandemic, and invest in the future in ways that enhance the human experience for everyone.”
Monica Galloway has represented Flint’s Seventh Ward on the City Council since 2013. She is the first African American and first woman to hold that position. She has served on the MML Board since 2019.
In 2020, she was honored by the League with its Ambassador Award recognizing exemplary service. The award is given to MML members who successfully complete all four levels of the League’s Elected Officials Academy (EOA) program. She also serves as vice president of the EOA Advisory Board.
Born and raised in San Diego, CA, she and her Flint-native husband and two sons relocated to Flint in 1995.
As League president, Galloway said she plans to continue the nonprofit organization’s work in building community wealth and encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion in municipalities throughout the state. She is the 10th League President from Genesee County and the fifth from the City of Flint since the MML was founded in 1899. The last president from Flint was in 1990—former Flint Mayor Woodrow Stanley.
MML Board President Monica Galloway and Vice President Barbara Ziarko.
“To be here 31 years after Mayor Stanley is amazing,” Galloway said. “I will do my absolute best not just to represent Flint and Genesee County, but to represent our entire state.”
In addition to selecting Galloway and Ziarko as the Board President and Vice President, the League membership also elected six new Board members during its annual meeting Wednesday, Sept. 22. The new members are Joshua Atwood, Lapeer City Commissioner; Rebecca Chamberlain-Creanga, Troy City Councilmember; Don Gerrie, Sault Ste. Marie Mayor; Valerie Kindle, Harper Woods Mayor; Joshua Meringa, Grandville Councilmember; and Tim Wolff, Lake Isabella Village Manager.
The new Trustees join Galloway, Ziarko and the other volunteers who remain on the 2021-22 Board—Robert Clark, Monroe Mayor; Peter Dame, Grosse Pointe City Manager; Carla Filkins, Cadillac Mayor; Stephen Gawron, Muskegon Mayor; Robert La Fave, L’Anse Village Manager; Andrè L. Spivey, Detroit City Councilmember; Deborah Stuart, Mason City Manager; Patrick Sullivan, Northville City Manager; Keith Van Beek, Holland City Manager; and Mark Washington, Grand Rapids City Manager.
The League Board and League CEO/Executive Director Dan Gilmartin also thanked the outgoing Trustees for their years of service: League President William Wild, Westland Mayor; League Vice President Dr. Deirdre Waterman, Pontiac Mayor; Michael Cain, City Manager of Boyne City; Brian Chapman, Sault Ste. Marie City Manager; Frances McMullan, Ypsilanti City Manager; Jean Stegeman, Menominee Mayor; and Diane Brown Wilhelm, Midland City Councilmember.
Download photos of the president, vice president, and new Board members on the League’s Flickr page at https://bit.ly/3nKKt9Q.
For additional information, contact Matt Bach, Michigan Municipal League assistant director of strategic communications, at mbach@mml.org and (810) 874-1073.
