South Bloomfield mayor begins process to rename Pettibone Place and urges council to review charter options

Mayor Aaron Thomas told council on Jan. 8 that he wants to start the process to rename Pettibone Place because it is currently named after a former mayor who, according to the meeting record, is a convicted felon. Council members agreed to allow Administrator Joe Allen to begin the renaming process and discussed potential new street names.

Thomas also asked council to review the village's 2025 plan and signaled a charter process may need to begin soon, noting it is a two-year process that would culminate with a ballot question in November. Council members asked for more information and agreed to discuss the charter at the Feb. 3 meeting.

The mayor reviewed proposed security upgrades for municipal building access to better protect sensitive records and staff. Council discussed whether to dissolve certain committees pending solicitor advice and considered routing Halloween Fest coordination through council rather than a smaller committee because of workload concerns.

On personnel matters, the council entered an executive session later in the meeting to consider appointment of a public employee and exited without further public action recorded beyond the hiring of the part-time administrative lieutenant earlier in the evening.

Council asked for follow-up information on any legal constraints to renaming streets, details on the charter process and timing, and solicitor guidance about committee dissolution before taking further action.