It has been over 14 months since the Antwerp Mayor, Ray DeLong, passed away. As President of the Council, Jan Reeb had been serving as interim mayor for the village. On November 1st it was announced that she would relinquish her seat on the Council and finish out the term that DeLong had commenced back in January of 2020.
The first nomination was Bryan Smith made by Rudie Reeb, who stated the positives of Smith. The council pushed to move forward with a vote, but Solicitor Farr interjected with a question of were any others to review or nominate. It was then stated that there had been two others who had sought the seat — Bill Boylan and Tom VanVlerah (previous mayor and council member). The council then closed the nominations and voted all in favor Bryan Smith.
Bryan Smith is a 2+ year resident of the Village of Antwerp. He lives in Maumee Landing at the north end of the Village with his wife of nine years, Danielle. They have two children. He is the son of Becky and the late Bruce Putman. Smith is employed by a marketing company based out of California.
There are Village issues that Smith would like to see get fixed; namely, the water quality and the growing of the downtown area. Smith is helping Maria Kobee with the Holly Beach Splash Pad fundraiser project, and she had suggested Smith to the council. Bryan Smith stated that he would like things to be made better in this Village.
Since Smith has been sworn in, he will be filling the vacancy of Jan Reeb’s unexpired term that expires December 31, 2023.
