City Council

2012 State of the City Address

Term Expires: 12-31-2013>Dave Coulter has been Mayor of Ferndale since January, 2011. Prior to that, he represented Ferndale, Hazel Park and Royal Oak as Oakland County Commissioner for four terms (2002-2010), where he also served as Democratic Leader. Coulter has been active on many community projects. He worked with the late Gerry Kulick as a council-appointed member of the Community Center Task Force that resulted in the center that bears her name. He was also a member of the Human Rights Ordinance Committee in 1999, and was a Trustee on the Ferndale Library Board in 2004-05, beginning the work that eventually led to the library’s expansion. In 2011 he started the Ferndale Head Start Backpack Program, which provides a new backpack and school supplies for the city’s low-income pre-school students.
Coulter earned a B.A. in Social Science from Michigan State University, and an Executive Education Certificate from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He was a civil engineering draftsman and public school teacher, and worked for 13 years in Public Affairs at Michigan Consolidated Gas Company. Coulter was also the former Executive Director of the non-profit Michigan AIDS Fund. He enjoys college sports (especially the Spartans), travel, golf and roller coasters.

Term: 2010-2013
Melanie is a lifelong Michigander, the last 6 years of which she has spent living and working in Ferndale with her husband, Jim. She has worked tirelessly at the Michigan Suburbs Alliance, a Ferndale-based non-profit organization dedicated to regional collaboration, redevelopment in inner-ring suburbs and energy sustainability.  Melanie graduated from Albion College in 1995, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Communications and German. Melanie is a certified project manager (PMP), a distinction she earned during the years she was affiliated with the auto industry. In 2008, Melanie received her Masters in Urban Planning from Wayne State University.  For the past six years, Melanie has served Ferndale as a volunteer on the Business Development Committee at the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority. In 2007, Melanie was honored as the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority Volunteer of the Year. She also served as a volunteer member of the Board of Zoning Appeals and will continue her involvement as a councilmember liaison to this board. Melanie loves to travel, bicycle and discover urban spaces.  Melanie currently serves on the Board of Zoning Appeals; City Manager and Fire Chief Liaison Committees; Ferndale Community Foundation and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG).
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Councilman Term: 2012-2015
Dan Martin was elected in 2011 to his first term on City Council. Dan is a graduate of Michigan State University and currently attends Oakland University in their Master’s of Public Administration program. He works as Director of Provider Services and Communications at Blue Care Network of Michigan.
Dan is the former Chair of the Ferndale Community Foundation and still serves on that Board. Dan also sits on the Boards of Ferndale Youth Assistance and Michigan AIDS Coalition. Before being elected to Council he also served on Ferndale’s Police and Fire Board as well as the Arts Commission.
On Council Dan serves on the Employees Retirement Board of Trustees, the Police and Fire Retirement System Board of Trustees and the Capital Improvement Plan Committee.