Three votes is all it will take to become the newest member of the Oxford Village Council now that there’s a vacancy.

Last week, council voted 4-0 to accept the immediate resignation of Councilman Erik Dolan, who did not attend the meeting.

Dolan, who was appointed to council in April 2016 and elected in November of that same year, submitted his letter of resignation on Dec. 10.

In it, he wrote that he’s “contemplated and discussed this decision for many months” as he’s “grown weary of the struggle to improve the village with the current deliberative body.”

“The issues with council that I have repeatedly addressed make it impossible for me to take the responsibility of a village council member seriously,” Dolan wrote. “Because of these convictions, I am confident that it is an appropriate time to remove myself from the organization.”

In a phone interview with this reporter, Dolan said he’s “a little bit frustrated” with the current council.

In his opinion, council members are “not all that serious” about their positions and lack “the knowledge and experience” necessary to make the best decisions for the village.

“We have individuals who have, literally, in open meetings point-blank said that they haven’t prepared properly and read the information,” Dolan said. “Some of them pick it up 20 minutes before the meeting. I just don’t feel it’s professional enough.”

Dolan said it also appeared to him that going forward, he would often be voting “on my own.”

“And that’s fine,” he said. “It’s not a matter of winning, but it gets to a point where I feel like I’m beating my head against the wall for no purpose whatsoever.”

In his letter, Dolan noted he is “pleased with the significant improvements” the village has made over the last two-and-a-half years.

“Some of us have made the difficult decisions necessary to restore a semblance of fiscal responsibility, to put in place a highly competent leadership team, to refinance municipal bonds saving the taxpayers many thousands of dollars, and to approve residential and commercial developments which will someday reinvigorate the community,” he wrote. “We have restructured departments, resisted raising taxes and water rates, and concurrently invested in capital improvement projects which will unquestionably make Oxford a better place to live and work.”

During Dolan’s time on council, former village Manager Joe Young was terminated, Joseph Madore was brought in as manager, Teresa Onica was hired as clerk/treasurer and longtime police officer Mike Solwold was promoted from sergeant to chief.

“(Dolan) was here for the transition of managers. It really set the pace in terms of getting a new professional staff on board, so we thank him for his service to the community,” said village President Joe Frost.

“Ditto,” said Councilman Dave Bailey.

As a councilman, Dolan also successfully pushed for closing the local police dispatch center and contracting with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office for those services at a much lower cost.

Dolan said he feels like council made some “pretty significant strides” while he was there.

“There were certain things that I wanted for the village and . . . while other people obviously voted to make those (things) happen, had there not been a driving force, I don’t think they would have,” he said.

Based on the village charter, council has 30 days following its Dec. 11 vote to accept Dolan’s resignation to fill the vacant seat.

“I would suggest that would have to occur at your first meeting in January,” said village attorney Bob Davis as he addressed council.

Candidates must apply, then be publicly interviewed by council. In order to be appointed, he or she must receive votes from a majority of the four remaining members.

In order to be eligible for appointment, the charter requires applicants to be a village resident for not less than six months, at least 21 years old and a registered voter.

Applicants cannot be indebted to the municipality, meaning they cannot, per the charter, have “any water bill or other financial obligation to the village which is more than 90 days past due, in whole or in part.”

The deadline to submit a resume with cover letter or completed application obtained from the village office is noon on Thursday, Jan. 3.

Council will appoint a new member at its Jan. 8 meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m.

Applications can be obtained by calling (248) 628-2543 or sending an email to manager@thevillageofoxford.org.