News

Pontiac Mayor Dr. Deirdre Waterman Named League Vice President

Press Release

Contact:

Matt Bach
Director of Communications
Michigan Municipal League
(734) 669-6317; C: (810) 874-1073
[email protected]; www.mml.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 7, 2020

Pontiac Mayor Dr. Deirdre Waterman Named League Vice President

Westland Mayor Selected as League President

ANN ARBOR, Michigan – Pontiac Mayor Dr. Deirdre Waterman has been named as the Michigan Municipal League’s 2020-21 vice president.

Dr. Waterman was selected vice president by the 18-member Board of Trustees on Sept. 29 during the Michigan Municipal League’s virtual Convention. The Board also named Westland Mayor William Wild as president. As vice president, Waterman is in line to become League president in 2021-22.

“It is an honor to be selected as the League’s Vice President.”  Waterman said. “I look forward to working with Mayor Wild and the MML team to advance the mission and platforms that support our member municipalities during these challenging times.”

Dr. Waterman was elected mayor of Pontiac in 2013, becoming the first woman to be elected to the position; she was re-elected in November 2017.

An ophthalmologist by profession, Dr. Waterman is a longtime business owner and operated her practice, Holloway Eye Care, in Pontiac for more than 30 years. She was the first African-American female ophthalmologist in the state of Michigan.

She is a graduate of the University of Chicago, with a degree in Biology and Political Science, as well as Meherry Medical College. She completed her residency at the Kresge Eye Institute at Wayne State. Dr. Waterman was awarded the 2017 Crain’s Newsmaker of the Year Award. She also served as chairman of the National Medical Association, Region IV, as well as two terms as finance chair for that organization. She was president of the Associated Healthcare Providers and is listed in the first Education of Vital Signs: Michigan, citing African-American achievement in healthcare.

In addition to selecting Dr. Waterman and Wild as the Board Vice President and President, the League Board also elected three new Board members and re-elected three currently serving Board members during its annual meeting Tuesday, Sept. 29. The new members are Detroit City Councilmember Andrè L. Spivey, Mason City Manager Deborah Stuart, and Monroe Mayor Robert Clark. The re-elected Board members are Muskegon Mayor Stephen Gawron, L’Anse Village Manager Robert La Fave, and Holland City Manager Keith Van Beek.

The newly elected Trustees join Dr. Waterman, Wild, and the other volunteers who remain on the 2020-21 Board—Michael Cain, city manager of Boyne City; Brian Chapman, Sault Ste. Marie City Manager; Peter Dame, Grosse Pointe City Manager; Carla Filkins, Cadillac Mayor; Monica Galloway, Flint City Council President; Frances McMullan, Ypsilanti City Manager; Jean Stegeman, Menominee Mayor; Patrick Sullivan, Northville City Manager; Diane Brown Wilhelm, Midland City Councilmember; and Barbara Ziarko, Sterling Heights City Councilmember.

The League Board and League CEO/Executive Director Dan Gilmartin also thanked the outgoing Trustees for their years of service: League President and Saginaw Mayor Pro Tem Brenda F. Moore; Brenda Jones, Detroit City Council President; and Marlon Brown, Mason Mayor Pro Tem.

For additional information, contact Matt Bach, Michigan Municipal League communications director, at [email protected] and (810) 874-1073.

About the League: 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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