County grants commissioner's request to be fired

[February 12, 2009]  CHEBOYGAN, Mi. (AP) -- Cheboygan County plans to fire its drain commissioner -- at his request.

The board of commissioners approved a resolution Wednesday to abolish the post of drain commissioner. Dennis Lennox was elected last November after campaigning on a promise to get rid of the job.

He says it's not needed because Cheboygan County has no drains to regulate.

State law requires that counties with more than 12,000 residents elect a drain commissioner. The post dates to Michigan's statehood in 1837, when local officials were in charge of developing and managing drainage ditches to eradicate swamplands.

The 24-year-old Lennox wants to raise that threshold to 35,000 residents.

Abolishing the office will require legislative approval. Previous attempts in the 1950s failed.

[Associated Press]

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