Ferndale appoints newest member to City Council

FERNDALE — The Ferndale City Council has chosen its newest member.

At its May 26 meeting, the council members voted 4-0 to appoint Nina LaSalle to join them. She succeeds Donnie Johnson, who resigned last month due to new job requirements.

LaSalle told the Woodward Talk that she was honored to be appointed and can’t wait to join the rest of the council. Her first meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, June 8.

“It’s wonderful,” she said. “You know how you have those big ideas and big dreams and you’re like, ‘I’ll take a shot at it,’ and you don’t actually think it’ll happen? So, what happens, it’s amazing. I’m very, very excited that I was chosen, and I trust City Council and I trust the mayor, and so I hope that I do a wonderful job just representing the people. I know especially, too, since I am appointed and not elected, I’m going to take it very, very seriously and make sure that I think of everyone in the community.”

LaSalle comes to the City Council as a financial analyst for Oakland County’s Department of Health and Human Services.

LaSalle said her biggest passion is housing affordability. Whether it’s starting a housing trust fund or some other avenue, she wants to offer as many solutions as possible for this issue.

“I know affordable housing is a very complicated topic,” she said. “So, if we can look into down payment assistance, we can look into more public housing, that is definitely my personal passion.”

LaSalle will serve the remainder of Johnson’s term, which will expire Dec. 31, 2027. She said she will be making the most of her time on council.

“I’m going to make sure that I don’t let anyone down,” she said. “I really want to make sure that I do a good job and that I’m thoughtful and I really take in multiple perspectives, get as involved in the community as possible, make sure that I’m open, I’m accessible and I really just … steward the opinions of Ferndale.”

The council had selected four finalists for its vacancy from more than 20 applicants. The finalists were LaSalle, Chris Hall, Jim McLuckie and Renee Townsend. Without Townsend, the remaining three finalists appeared before council at a special meeting on May 26 before the council’s regularly scheduled meeting to answer questions.

From its interviews, the council unanimously decided to support LaSalle — who was sworn-in later that night — highlighting her financial background as one of the main reasons for her selection. Johnson also had a background in finance.

“My vote is about skill set,” Council member Rolanda Kelley said during the meeting. “I’ve said that from the beginning. It’s not personal or political agendas. It’s about skill set and it’s obvious that we had a strong financial person on here before, and they are no longer with us. And I think Nina, what you bring to the table will be really valuable for us moving forward with all the projects that we have upcoming with the police and fire, and (the) Kulick (Community Center) and all the finances that will be needed for that. I think you could be really helpful in that field.”

Something that stood out to Mayor Raylon Leaks-May was LaSalle expressing how she wants to reach out to departments before making decisions, which she felt is important, as the city already deals with legislators who want to make decisions for small communities,

“It’s important that you would want to reach out to those departments to say, ‘Hey, what do you need before making a decision?’ I like that a lot,” she said.

“I like that you stated you always want to ask questions and want to know as much as possible, and in your desire and focus is to learn from others,” Leaks-May continued. “I think that it’s really easy to be loud, but it’s very difficult to be silent, and I just think that I appreciate you bringing that to the forefront because I think it’s important.”