The Village of Bear Lake Michigan
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The Village of Bear Lake operates as a statutory village under the "General Law of Village Act of 1895" and subsequently amended.
"In Michigan, villages function much like cities, but differ in that villages are not completely administratively autonomous of the township(s) in which they are located, reducing their home rule powers. Because of this, statistically, their population is also included in the population of the township in which they reside. Village governments are required to share some of the responsibilities to their residents with the township. As of January 2011, there are 256 villages in Michigan, of which 46 are designated home rule villages, and 210 designated as general law villages.[4] General law villages are weak mayor-council forms of government. The mayor equivalent is the annually elected village president, who is a member of the village council and its presiding officer. The village's clerk and treasurer are elective offices unless changed to appointive offices. The village may establish additional officer of the village including the street administrator, who is appointed by the president with the council's consent. Besides the president, the council has either four or six trustees with six as the legal standard. The village may either elect three trustees every two years with four year terms or all six every two-year term. Reducing the number of trustees to four, appointing the clerk and treasurer or to create the position of village manager takes an village ordinance approved by a two-thirds majority of the council subject to referendum. Additional village boards, both appointed and ex officio, can include the boards of registration, election commissioners, election inspectors and cemetery trustees. Home rule villages (Home Rule Village Act) must have an elected president, clerk and legislative body and indicate the election or appointment of other essential officer and boards. The president may selected by the village legislative body instead of being elected." from Wikipedia |