It took some time, some discussion and a few votes at last week’s Oxford Village Council meeting, but in the end, a new council member was finally appointed.

Council voted 3-1 to appoint Joe Frost to the seat vacated by Tom Kennis when his resignation was accepted at the Sept. 12 meeting. Councilman Dave Bailey cast the lone dissenting vote.

He will serve the remainder of Kennis’ term, which expires in November 2018.

Frost, who lives on Pleasant St., is no stranger to the inner workings of village government.

From July 2015 until February of this year, he served as the executive director of the Oxford Downtown Development Authority (DDA). He left the DDA to take a job as an associate planner for Main Street Oakland County, an economic development program that provides technical assistance to downtowns.

“In my role as DDA director, I served on committees with some of you,” Frost told council. “So, you are familiar with my work (and) familiar with my reputation (for) getting things done.”

He summed himself up as “pro-downtown, pro-village, pro-Oxford.”

“It’s a great community. It’s got a lot of potential,” Frost noted. “The downtown’s amazing. The village is amazing. The residents are amazing.”

The only question Frost was asked by council came from Erik Dolan.

“Do you have the ability to equitably represent the Oxford Lakes portion of the village as well as the downtown and historical portion(s) of the village?” the councilman asked.

“I believe so,” Frost replied.

He said the village is a diverse place in that it contains “people (from) all walks of life, people (with) all different incomes (and) all different housing types.”

“In this new position . . . I’m willing to get to know the residents better . . . and learn what the issues are from the perspective of our residents and really represent the residents’ needs moving forward,” Frost said.

Frost’s only competition for the council seat was Pastor Dave Gerber, who’s been involved in the Oxford community in various capacities for a number of years and serves as chaplain for the village police department.

Despite the limited number of applicants, it took council two votes to appoint Frost.

The first attempt failed in a 2-2 tie with Dolan and village President Sue Bossardet voting for Frost and council members Maureen Helmuth and Dave Bailey voting against the appointment,

Helmuth made it clear her vote was not a commentary on either candidate.

“I think we have two very good applicants, but I just feel that we need to (fill) the manager’s position, first,” she explained.

The village is currently on its second interim manager since longtime manager Joe Young was fired by council in February and worked his last day March 31.

Council has interviewed two candidates for the manager position – one in June, the other earlier this month – but both withdrew their names from consideration.

“I think the sitting board should hire a manager before we appoint a fifth member,” Helmuth said. “That’s just my opinion.”

Village attorney Bob Davis reminded officials their window to appoint someone to council was almost closed.

According to the village charter, following the acceptance of a councilperson’s resignation, council has 30 days to fill the vacancy.

“You really need to get this done,” Davis said.

A motion was made and approved to set the appointment aside until the end of the meeting.

When council returned to the issue, a second motion was made to appoint Frost and this time it passed 3-1.

Helmuth apologized to Frost and Gerber for keeping them there for the entire meeting, but she noted this was a “true test” of whether or not they wanted the job “because this is what (council meetings are) always like.”