In the Candidates Own Words - For Mayor
Excerpts from Tuesdays Meet the Candidate Session.
Sept 23, 2026
Candidates For Mayor
These are the statements from those running for Mayor. A separate email covers those running for Mayor.
A note before you read
This post is built from the transcript of the Meet the Candidates forum hosted by the Harbor Springs Chamber of Commerce on September 23, 2026. We regrouped the transcript so each candidate’s answers sit together under their name. We chose to publish it this way to make it easier to understand each candidate: you can read what they said in one place, without scrolling through the whole evening.
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Please read with care. The transcript was generated automatically from the recording. It may contain typos, misheard words, or phrasing that does not match what a candidate meant. Beyond removing moderator remarks and filler words, we have not changed the candidates’ answers, so any errors come from the transcription, not the candidates.
The video is the official record. If an answer matters to your vote, watch the full replay
Talk to the candidates. No transcript replaces a real conversation. Reach out to them, go to their events, or stop them around town. They are running to serve you, and they want to hear from voters.
We Love Harbor Springs does not endorse any candidate.
Questions and Answers only, organized by candidate, in the order each question was asked. Moderator remarks, crosstalk, uh’s and asides from other speakers have been removed; each candidate’s own words are kept in full.
Mayoral Candidates
Gail Brown — Mayor
Introduction
Thank you. I’m Gail Brown, and I am running for mayor of Harbor Springs. Um, I’m from downstate, graduated from Wayne State University. I have a bachelor’s in history. Um, my husband Bill, who’s kind of sitting over there, uh, was mayor from 2016 to 2018. We have owned a house here since 1995, moved up here permanently in 2012. And one of my sisters lives here full-time. One of my sisters has a cottage on 3rd Street. So I am staying, and hopefully Bill will too. But I send— I’ll get to my, my other experience. I just want to introduce myself. If you have seen me, I’m always on the streets in the CBD. I’m usually with my dog Hank, who is the mascot of Main Street. And I work downtown in several of the stores just because they can’t find staffing. So I will move on to my experience and why I think that experience fulfills the mayor’s role. So when I looked at you know, the - what a mayor actually does in his role of city council. The mayor is the executive head of the city, presides over all city council meetings, uh, is a member of the city council, and has a responsibility to participate in discussions and decisions. And he is in communication with us, with the city manager. So that’s very similar to what a city council person would do, but it’s just he has the added role of being executive head, one vote for the mayor. So when I looked at those responsibilities and I see a strong connection. (Cut off here — out of time.)
Question 1: If elected mayor, what are the 2 or 3 priorities you would want the council to focus on during your first year?
Well, I do. I agree with Jamie. Sitting in the city council meetings, especially the one the other day when they talk about budgets and how we’re going to pare down. And we have these major infrastructure, both the station, electric station, and the sewer fund. And so those are top priority, and we have to plan for that. You know, at least the, Board Park station is not critical right now, what we have to plan for the future. But I’m going to add one there, and that is what we hear all the time is our city sidewalks. So our city sidewalks need to be taken care of, and we need to put money towards that, and that’s safety and winter. But, and, you know, we could probably— I’m just going to add this. I do not speak on behalf of the DDA. But that we can hopefully fund that for the CBD.
Question 2 (Mayoral candidates only): The mayor sets the tone for council meetings and often serves as the public face of the city. What would your leadership style be, and how would you handle a divided council when there is a strong disagreement over an issue?
I do Chair the DDA, and when you talk about a controversial board, don’t hold it against me. We have experienced a lot of it, but I am, in my career, have always been a leader, and I am a thoughtful leader. I listen first, always. I remain very, very calm. I don’t respond quickly. I think through what the public is saying. I try to keep my board members calm during some heated discussions, and I think that in that, that works for controversy. It is setting the stage early, what the expectation is, and controlling. (Cut off here — out of time.)
Question 3: The city has significant infrastructure needs — utilities, sewers, sidewalks, other aging infrastructure. How should the city prioritize these needs when there is not enough money to address everything at once?
So a lot of this has already been discussed. So obviously infrastructure, and that is number one priority. And to me it is the sidewalks, the safety of the streets, etc. But what I would do is I think I would look at it more from the bottom up. Because, you know, our budget, the budget of the city council and the city, you know, they prioritize already in their budget. And I think that if we had to remove dollars from somewhere, that’s where we look so that we are able to bond, because we have a lot of, uh, low-priority budget items that we can push off for another time, some high-dollar things.
Question 4: Once council approves a project or initiative, what responsibility does council have to ensure it moves forward in a timely and effective manner? How should council monitor progress, if at all?
Well, for me, it is, you know, how do we continue to monitor monitor any project. And that’s sometimes—and I think Wendy said, when you’re moving so fast and you have so many things on your plate as a city council you know, on our agendas, sometimes they’re so packed on the city council agendas, it would be nice if it’s even orderly to have a placeholder there so that the— if it’s whoever the project holder is, if it is the city manager, updated, given updates so everyone knows how where we are in the process and can follow up periodically. Because some of these projects are huge. They’re not just very simple projects.
Question 5: As Harbor Springs, our neighboring townships, and surrounding communities grow, how should the city plan for increased tourism, traffic, and demand on infrastructure while maintaining the quality of life for year-round residents?
This is a tough, tough call anytime you’re talking about tourism and year-round residents, year-round community. So it’s a hard one to work through. So someone had presented a question to me about, you know, as there’s the increase in tourism, increase in population and outside communities. How do we handle traffic on Main Street, on M119? And I think this has been kicked around before, but now looking at what would a bypass correction be. And I know that years ago, I think Mark and Bill worked on, you know, trying kind of that project, but then putting in a roundabout or doing a shuttle from City Hall to lessen the parking holdups. So this one is hard. I just, you know, when it comes to how you stop— (Cut off here — out of time.)
Question 6: Do you support or oppose cruise ship tourism in Little Traverse Bay? How should the city balance the economic benefits of tourism with its impacts on residents, businesses, and city services?
Well, first, when I think of cruise ships, I think of cruise ships, large cruise ships. So that, no, I would not be in favor. If you’re, you know, I guess I don’t really have any research on this, or I just heard about this really recently. If they were a smaller ship, minimum number of people, or ship—I’m not even gonna call it a ship, a boat. But we are full now. Our harbor is full, our town is full. And I know if this was an off-season shoulder season, you know, possibility, maybe, but that, you know, who wants to come to Harbor Springs in the winter? So I just, you know, I don’t feel comfortable saying it, but the concept just doesn’t sit well with me.
Question 7: The Harbor Commission currently includes representatives from both Little Traverse and West Traverse townships. Should that model be considered for other boards and commissions such as Parks and Recreation? Why or why not?
Okay, I, I agree with most of them here. I think that anytime you can add new ideas to a board like Harbor Commission Parks and Recreation, it is, is a great idea. It’s amazing how much they can help us and we can help them. I do not think that they should be on the DDA at all because this is a business—excuse me, a business downtown business board.
Question 8: What is one thing Harbor Springs is doing well that you would work to preserve, and one thing you believe needs to change?
Okay, one—the one thing I think that the city is doing well, and I’m going to speak to the downtown area, our CBD, all of our storefronts are occupied. We have—in the last couple weeks, I had 2 requests for space, which we do not have. We have engaged businesses downtown that are staying vital and are being very successful. And we just have—we have managed with the city, with the Chamber of Commerce, to have a really vital downtown in our small community. The one thing that I would change is the inclusiveness of those people that are outside of the city, our community, that want to have a voice, which they can, and share their voice, and that we have to listen. And we’ve gotten a little better, but we have a long way to go yet.
Question 9: Following recent major storms and prolonged outages, what should the city’s disaster preparedness priorities be? What should the city do to ensure it is prepared for prolonged power outages, blocked roads, communication issues, and the needs of an aging population?
Um, first, I think for the ice storm, the city did an incredible job. I think, uh, it happened at 8:30 Saturday night, and by Sunday morning that the elementary school was set and ready to go. And it helped, you know, because the Friendship Center didn’t have generators. Perry Farm didn’t have generators in, in some areas. And quickly getting them into the shelter, it allowed people to take showers, gave us Red Cross support. So, and the police department did go out on wellness checks out distant from the city. You know for what we dealt with, it was very smooth. And gas was an issue, but Harbor Car Care got there by Sunday. They had the gas tanks up and ready to go.
Question 10: What should city government do to improve communication and build trust with residents, particularly when making difficult or unpopular decisions?
Well, improving communication, transparency, and I want to talk a bit about trust. So trust is the foundation of everything that we should be doing. And then when we look at transparency, which is the result, you know, if you have open transparency, the result will be trust. So we need to—we’re doing open meetings, we’re doing Zoom meetings, we’re sending out emails, and I’m speaking from the city council to the—and with the boards that you have. So being consistent in executing our policies and procedures, uh, following policies. So there’s a difference between policy and procedure. What we’re doing often is we have the policies in place, but we’re executing to a whole different policy, or we’re adjusting it. And I think that’s something that the city council and the boards need.
Question 11: What would you do to ensure residents with opposing views are heard and that council discussions remain factual, civil, and respectful?
For public comment, I think that we need to, in the beginning of the meeting, set the rules for public comment. The time frame, I like what Chris did, and that is no clapping or verbal celebrations while you’re—or public speaker if you disagree with or are excited about what they said. It’s just very disruptive and it just hurts feelings. I think that the city council and the boards need to just not respond. Don’t get into it. Don’t let your facial expressions change. Just stay very, very calm. But, and reminding the public, you have to speak to the city council or the board instead of turning to the public to get reinforcement and support from them.
Closing Comments
Well, my closing remarks are going to be kind of like my opening remarks because I missed out on them, but I just want to cover my experience. And first, I am the Chair of the DDA. I’ve been chair. I’ve been on the DDA 4 years, the Chair for 3 years, and there I have experience in developing and managing budgets, participation, established priorities. But the bulk of my experience, 25 years, is in retail leadership at the corporate level. And that was with Vera Bradley Incorporated and Dillard’s Department Stores. I served as a district manager, regional manager, and corporate trainer. I was responsible for the store budgets, HR, developing employees and sales goals. This experience that I had there taught me how to manage resources responsibly, make decisions, communicate, and communicate clearly. We held high operational standards, sales goals, customer service, and retaining associates. I am also committed to volunteerism. I have been nominated 3 years in a row since 2024 as the—as a Harbor Star Volunteer of the Year. I worked with the Historical Society. I worked with Salvation Army. I worked with Preservation 49740, and I strongly support the businesses downtown. I work for—work in a few of them until they can find staffing, and I am that is the constituents to me of the DDA, and they have—I’m with them all the time. Daily, I’m out on the street.
Jamie Melke — Mayor
Introduction
Thank you. Uh, first I want to thank Amy and Bonnie and the Chamber for setting up this event to give us all an opportunity to talk about the community that we all love. I’m Jamie Melke, and I’m running for mayor. I grew up in Northern Michigan and moved to Harbor Springs full-time in 2013, where I began working at the New York restaurant. Over time, I took on more responsibility, and I now manage the day-to-day operations of a successful downtown business. I know how important it is to bring people together, communicate clearly, solve problems, and keep a team focused on a common goal, even when there are different perspectives and competing, um, priorities. I was elected to City Council in 2022, and then I was reelected again in 2024. I have firsthand experience with our budget, infrastructure, utilities, and our city operations, the decisions that affect Harbor Springs every day, have been a part of my life for the last 4 years. It is these experiences in business and government that I am prepared to take this— the mayor’s seat. I’ll be ready on day one to preserve what we have, protect our investments. To provide for the future takes the ability to ask the right questions, get community input, and then make a collaborative decision. A transparent, effective process is what Harbor Springs deserves. Our community needs thoughtful leadership, a mayor who leads healthy discussions and comes to consensus, and above all is committed to serving everyone. I look forward to the conversation tonight.
Question 1: If elected mayor, what are the 2 or 3 priorities you would want the council to focus on during your first year?
There has been a lot of talk about infrastructure lately, and I believe that the first thing we really need to focus on is infrastructure. Electric and water and sewer. There’s a big sewer project coming up. And I think getting our rates to match the amount of money that we are going to have to spend on these projects is a huge priority. We also have a lot of change that has happened at City Hall in the last couple of years. And going forward, we have— Kyle is retiring. And potentially some other retirees happening. So I think making sure that City Hall has enough coverage and support from the councils to make sure that they have enough people there to do the job.
Question 2 (Mayoral candidates only): The mayor sets the tone for council meetings and often serves as the public face of the city. What would your leadership style be, and how would you handle a divided council when there is a strong disagreement over an issue?
I think that the most important thing is to listen to the community and ask questions that give us the answers to make a decision. I think council needs to be able to have conversations that are respectful and everyone needs to speak up, even if you don’t have much to say. I think it’s worth saying, hey, what do you think? What happens at meetings oftentimes leads to a lot of back and forth. And I think that that really takes away from the actual discussion at the table. So I would like to see us follow the rules that we have for public comment so that we can have meetings that are more productive and efficient.
Question 3: The city has significant infrastructure needs — utilities, sewers, sidewalks, other aging infrastructure. How should the city prioritize these needs when there is not enough money to address everything at once?
I think that there is a couple of ways to address this, and there’s a lot of talk about having an asset inventory and actually taking a look at what we have and how healthy it is, or when we are going to need to replace it. That has not been really a conversation that has happened. It ties into the capital improvement plan. We had a little discussion last night about taking the capital improvement plan and separating it from the budget, because making a plan is going to better enable us to plug those numbers into the budget and really prioritize what needs to be taken care of first. We’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of years just chasing after problems, and it would be nice to have a plan in place to take care of things before they break.
Question 4: Once council approves a project or initiative, what responsibility does council have to ensure it moves forward in a timely and effective manner? How should council monitor progress, if at all?
Once a project is approved by City Council—really short—the initial idea is approved, and then it comes back to city council with a plan which is approved, and then it goes out to bid which is approved. Once council approves the bid, it is up to the city manager, I believe, to bring us back updates with his city manager report at council meetings to tell us where we are in the status. Um, if he is not updating us regularly, there’s always an opportunity for council members to bring up at old and new business, um, hey, we just want an update, we want somebody to come back to us and tell us where we are in this project.
Question 5: As Harbor Springs, our neighboring townships, and surrounding communities grow, how should the city plan for increased tourism, traffic, and demand on infrastructure while maintaining the quality of life for year-round residents?
I think that there is a balance that can be had. I believe the city could look into making sure that when people use the property that is, um, owned by the city residents, that we are charging usership, um, fees, and we are making sure that the people that are using our parks and our resources are paying for them so that the money that we spend paying for that can be then allocated to pay for the infrastructure. So there has to be questions asked about how much money we want to spend bringing people into the community versus taking care of the people that we have here. And it’s a very fine balance because we want a thriving downtown, we want thriving businesses, and it takes a lot of creative thinking and problem solving.
Question 6: Do you support or oppose cruise ship tourism in Little Traverse Bay? How should the city balance the economic benefits of tourism with its impacts on residents, businesses, and city services?
I would not be in favor of cruise ships, because when I think about cruise ships, I think about when you go on a cruise, they offer you all of these excursions when you stop in a port. And right now, Harbor Springs doesn’t have excursions. As far as in the city limits, we—I think that if we were to allow cruise ships, we would be at risk of having somebody operating disc golf events every day on our city property. I think that it would be a very, very big impact on all of our infrastructure. We just spent $1 million plus on a harbormaster building, and having a cruise ship come in and use those facilities and having somebody to have to clean up after that is going to be a really big impact on our budget.
Question 7: The Harbor Commission currently includes representatives from both Little Traverse and West Traverse townships. Should that model be considered for other boards and commissions such as Parks and Recreation? Why or why not?
I think that there has been a little bit of talk about—the townships do pay into the city for Parks and Recreation, and there has been a little discussion about including people from the township boards on our Parks and Rec board because they are paying in and they should be able to be involved and have a little bit of a say. But I think that as far as being loyal to our taxpayers and their money, I think that we do have to be cautious of how many people we allow in to make the decisions for how we use our tax dollars.
Question 8: What is one thing Harbor Springs is doing well that you would work to preserve, and one thing you believe needs to change?
I think one thing that the city is doing really well is that they have—that we have great staff, and the staff really shows that they care. They—when the 4th of July happens, you see a little tiny bit of setup. It happens, and then it’s like it never happened. They get in there, they clean up the streets, they take out the trash. And they turn Harbor Springs back to what it was the day before. What I would change is I would entrust staff to make decisions in a way that they can fix smaller things that might matter a lot. There used to be a trash can on the hill coming down from the bluff, and ever since that trash can was removed, there is now always trash going down the hill by the stairs. And I think that, you know, seeing there’s a lot of trash there, put the trash can back or find a place that you can put the trash can to solve that problem without having to wait until somebody comes and says, hey, have you noticed this? We’re just spending more time in town.
Question 9: Following recent major storms and prolonged outages, what should the city’s disaster preparedness priorities be? What should the city do to ensure it is prepared for prolonged power outages, blocked roads, communication issues, and the needs of an aging population?
I think that the city does a great job working together and shows they all care a lot, and they will do anything to make sure that we are taken care of and that we are safe. I think the most important and biggest thing that we can do is once we go through a situation like the ice storm is to document what worked, what didn’t work, what we could do better next time, and write that into a policy because someday the people that care the most might be gone on spring break when something like that happens. And to be able to call somebody and say, hey, there’s a plan, this is where you find it, I need you to take care of everything, is really important. And then I also think that leaning more on neighborhoods and getting to know your neighbors, making sure that when you know you have an elderly, elderly person next door, you go in and check on them when we’re in these—
Question 10: What should city government do to improve communication and build trust with residents, particularly when making difficult or unpopular decisions?
In the 4 years that I’ve been involved, I think that we’ve come a long way in transparency. I remember going to a Parks Board meeting before I got on City Council, and there was an agenda that said Juana’s Park, and nobody knew what they were talking about because the packets were not publicized. And so now we publicize the packets. And then there was a time where the packets were all put on the city website, and after the meeting happened, it disappeared. And now we have all of those packets on the city website so that anyone at any time can go back and look at what’s going on. And, um, I think it really comes down to if the community wants to be involved and engaged, they have to read the newspaper. They have to sign up for the emails, and they have to pay attention, talk to their neighbors, and really know what’s going on.
Question 11: What would you do to ensure residents with opposing views are heard and that council discussions remain factual, civil, and respectful?
I think that we need to make sure that we are running efficient meetings where when we have very controversial topics, we make sure that people are lining up at the podium and we are keeping people to the 3 minutes. Once public comment is over, I think it’s really healthy to allow council to have the discussion because they did already hear a lot of voices in the room, and they need to have a healthy discussion at the table to come to a consensus and to make decisions. Um, I guess I also think that people need to really take a deep breath, check their tone, and just remember, like we talked about last night, when everyone is applauding over something, it, it really distracts from the people that have other views, and maybe they are going to be scared to stand up and share them.
Closing Comments
Again, I just want to thank Amy and the Chamber for putting this together, but I also want to thank everyone in the audience who came tonight and showed up to participate in our community. At the end of the day, I think we can all agree that we need to preserve what we have, protect our investments, and provide for the future. We do this by maintaining our infrastructure and making sure the essentials work—keeping the power on, the water running, our sewer working, and our streets and sidewalks safe and well-maintained. We need to focus on the fundamentals of running a city well. With effective communication, we can set up priorities and spend wisely to get the job done. Being part of a community that comes together, whether it is supporting each other during an ice storm or cheering together when the girls brought home the state soccer trophy, reminds us that the physical beauty of Harbor Springs is only matched by the warmth and kindness of those who live here. This weekend we are hosting a nationally recognized book festival as well as an international sailing race. These events only begin to underscore what an incredible treasure Harbor Springs is. If entrusted with the responsibilities of serving as mayor, I will listen to residents, ask questions, and work collaboratively with City Council, the city staff, and the boards and commissions. I’m committed to working together to ensure that Harbor Springs is a wonderful place. Again, thank you all for coming. Um, I’m Jamie Melky, and Harbor Springs is my home. I believe in the future, and I would appreciate your vote for mayor on November 3rd.