The newest Berrien County Commissioner is James Martin, now representing the Third District, which covers Benton Township. The county commission on Thursday interviewed four candidates for a vacancy in that seat created when Don Meeks resigned in April. The applicants were Joseph Taylor, Chokwe Pitchford, Jerry Sirk, and Martin. He has previous local government experience.
“I was on the Benton Township Board for a term, and then I came to the Berrien County Commissioners in ’93 to ’94,” Martin said. “After that, I branched out and left and went up to Lake County.”
Martin said he was active in township government up in Lake County, where he was a 911 dispatcher and firefighter. He came back to Berrien County after his mother died to help out his father. Martin is now retired. He told commissioners he’s like to serve on the board to help Berrien County continue to grow. He’s now serving a partial term that will expire at the end of the year.
