By Michael Piwowarski
SAGINAW – The Saginaw city council has filled a vacancy that was left by Clint Bryant, current Democratic candidate for the Michigan House of Representatives.
Reggie Williams, police chief of Buena Vista Township, was selected by the council and sworn in on Monday, March 2.
“I’m very excited,” Williams said of his appointment. “I’ve been serving the city of Saginaw for over 20 years in various fashions and forms. And this is just another way for me to serve my city.”
Williams says that one issue standing out to him right now is the tax cap. The tax cap means that the city of Saginaw’s property tax is limited to a maximum of 7.5 mills (one mill = $1 per $1,000 of assessed property value) and a tax revenue cap of $3.8 million. This cap has been in place since it was approved by voters in 1979.
There have been numerous attempts to lift the tax cap. In 2018, the NAACP pushed for eliminating the tax cap, saying that it has been hurting the city.
Saginaw NAACP president Leola Wilson told WNEM in 2018: “It affects the money that we have available to hire our public safety people, to hire people that we need to work in our community. And that’s why it’s so very important because it’s so limiting.”
Reggie Williams agrees with this sentiment.
“I think it’s important for us to educate our residents on the benefits of eliminating the tax cap so we can have that revenue stream,” says Williams.
Williams’ service to the Saginaw community goes back more than 20 years. He was a Saginaw Township police officer for 21 years until 2017, when he retired and became the Buena Vista police chief. He has also coached basketball at Arthur Hill High School.
He was motivated to apply to serve on the council when he learned of Bryant’s resignation, and was one of five candidates that applied for the position. He considers his selection a “tremendous honor.”
“There’s several people I’d love to thank,” says Williams. “First and foremost, [I’d like to] thank my wife for her support, and I definitely thank the council. I’m looking forward to working with the residents.”
According to the City of Saginaw Government’s Facebook page, the other candidates were Nate Collison, Paul Mason, Lynn Elliot and Dawn Goodrow Hillier.
Clint Bryant resigned from the city council Monday, Feb. 3 after serving for four years. Weeks later, he announced his run for state representative in Michigan’s 95th district.
Williams will serve for the remainder of Bryant’s term, before having to run for re-election to a full term in November.