A question about the residency of Cassopolis Village President Dianna McGrew has divided the council.

While the vote to proceed with legal action to determine her legal residency was defeated Jan. 4, we believe that the underlying question will continue to haunt the village council as it tries to move forward.

While we agree that McGrew and the council should always abide by the laws of the village, state and federal governments, we believe that this issue needs to be put the rest once and for all in order to keep Cassopolis moving forward.

There are bigger issues facing this council and this community.

McGrew stated that she is currently staying at her summer home on Diamond Lake, but intends to remain a legal resident of the village.

Her driver’s license and voter registration both list her legal residence as Park Shore Drive.

That, according to the village’s own attorney, is enough to prove she is a resident and that the matter should be closed.

One of the reasons why the council needs to move past this quickly is to address the concerns of its citizens over a potential sale of Southside Park to Community Mills.

The council has gone back and forth on whether or not it is going to sell the park to Community Mills.

It is time that council members decide once and for all if the sale is going to be approved or whether or not it is going to keep the park, which seems to be what members of the community want.

It is unfair to Community Mills to waffle back and forth. It is unfair to the citizens that the village’s representatives keep changing their minds.

What would be in the best interest of the Village of Cassopolis is for council members to get together with its Parks and Recreation Board and the owners of Community Mills to see exactly what would be in the best interest of Cassopolis.

If they decide to keep Southside Park, then the council needs to move forward with fixing up the park and making it more user-friendly.

If council members decide to sell the park and build a new one up the street on one of several vacant lots, then they need to make that decision and begin the process of raising enough money to provide a quality park for its residents.

Either way, a decision needs to be made and the council needs to get everyone back on the same page.

After all, that is what truly is in the best interest of the Village of Cassopolis.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Craig Haupert, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.