After a recent appointment to the Grand Traverse County Road Commission was voided due to improper voting procedures, the county board of commissioners reinterviewed applicants Wednesday and appointed a different candidate to the board.

Interlochen resident Andy Marek was appointed to the Grand Traverse County Road Commission after receiving five affirmative votes from county commissioners yesterday. Marek sits on the Traverse Area District Library Board and ran for a county commission seat earlier this year, though he lost that race in the primary to Ron Clous. Commissioners Herb Lemcool, Dan Lathrop, Christine Maxbauer, Addison “Sonny” Wheelock and Larry Inman supported Marek's bid to fill the road commission vacancy. Commissioner Richard Thomas was absent from the meeting.

While Commissioner Charlie Renny was present for Wednesday's interviews, he abstained from voting, saying he felt “the process had been diminished and tarnished” after Maxbauer did not attend the first round of interviews but criticized the board's original appointee, Cori Nielson, in local press reports.

Nielson was appointed to the road commission by a 3-2 vote before it was discovered state statute required the appointments to receive a majority approval (four affirmative votes) from the board of commissioners. Her appointment was thus voided and the interview process started over.

Nielson did not appear at yesterday's second round of interviews, though she was eligible to reapply for the vacancy. The Grand Traverse County Clerk's office told The Ticker Nielson had withdrawn her application and “did not wish to be interviewed again.”