Contact:
Morgan Schwanky
Michigan Municipal League
(734) 669-6320
[email protected]
www.mml.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 29, 2023
Zeeland Mayor Kevin Klynstra Selected as Vice President
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – The mayors of Auburn and Zeeland were recently selected to lead the statewide Michigan Association of Mayors.
Auburn Mayor Lee Kilbourn was appointed to a one-year term as president of MAM and Zeeland Mayor Kevin Klynstra was selected for a one-year term as vice president of the association. Both were selected October 19 at the organization’s annual board meeting, which took place during the Michigan Municipal League 2023 Convention in Traverse City.
MAM is the official nonpartisan organization of Michigan’s chief elected officials. Representing over 120 Michigan communities, MAM works to assist the chief elected officials of cities, townships and villages advance the various interests and operations of communities represented by its members and all Michigan communities; promote cooperation among communities statewide; and advocate local interests at the state and federal levels.
Lee Kilbourn has been mayor of Auburn since 2011 and is past president and vice president of MAM. He previously served as president in 2016. Kilbourn has served several community organizations and the Auburn-Williams Fire District for 25 years. He is currently a member of the Auburn-Williams Lions Club, the Auburn Downtown Development Authority and the Auburn-Williams Intergovernmental Committee. Kilbourn graduated from Oral Roberts University with a bachelor’s degree in business. He and his wife, Kathy, are second generation owners of their family’s 57-year-old furniture business and proud grandparents of two children. For this term as president, Kilbourn replaces Hastings Mayor David Tossava.
“I am honored to continue my service to this excellent organization as MAM President,” Kilbourn said. “I look forward to working with my fellow mayors and village presidents and lead[ing] us as an organization through the next year.”
Mayor Kevin Klynstra has been a resident of Zeeland his whole life. He was elected to the city council in 1997. He decided to run for mayor in 2011 after he retired from the Postal Service and has served in that position ever since. Following his win in the November election, he is now serving his seventh consecutive two-year term. He has served on the MAM board for six years.
“It is a pleasure to serve as vice president for this organization,” Klynstra said. “I am looking forward to working with Lee to help lead the organization and to continue building the relationships that I have made through my involvement over the years.”
In addition to selecting Kilbourn and Klynstra as the Board President and Vice President, the association elected a new Board member, Saginaw Mayor Brenda F. Moore. Kilbourn, Klynstra and Moore will join the current Board comprised of Montrose Mayor Coleen Brown, Monroe Mayor Robert E. Clark, Baraga Village President Wendell Dompier, Port Huron Mayor Pauline Repp, Fremont Mayor James M. Rynberg and Hastings Mayor David Tossava.
For more information, contact Jessica Weirauch, Director, Marketing and Communications at the Michigan Municipal League, at [email protected] or 734-669-6311.
Michigan Municipal League is dedicated to making Michigan’s communities better by thoughtfully innovating programs, energetically connecting ideas and people, actively serving members with resources and services, and passionately inspiring positive change for Michigan’s greatest centers of potential: its communities. The League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services. Learn more at mml.org.
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