KALAMAZOO (WKZO) — The Kalamazoo City Commission has chosen 32-year-old Eric Cunningham, who belongs to a family with deep roots in Kalamazoo, to serve out the term of former Commissioner Stephanie Moore.
Cunningham says he has the community engagement part down, but says he will have a learning curve as he tries to hit the ground running as a City Commissioner.
Next Tuesday, he will be sworn in just before the Commission is scheduled to vote on the 2015 city budget, a document he says he has studied.
Cunningham is an eligibility specialist with the State Dept. of Human Services, and serves on a Kalamazoo City allocation committee.
It took two votes to elect Cunningham. He got three on the first ballot with the other commissioners each voting for a different candidate. On the second ballot, he got all six votes.
He beat out five other candidates selected by the Commission to be their finalists from a field of 15 Applicants. One of them withdrew prior to the interviews.