GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — A Grand Haven City Councilmember is following up with her colleagues after the Grand Haven Mayor said she shouldn't be on the council due to her residency.
Mayor Catherine McNally recently alleged that Councilwoman Karen Lowe primarily lives in Grand Haven Township during a meeting, and not at her cottage within the city limits. The mayor said she based those claims on public water records.
Lowe said the claim is false and intended to damage her reputation.
Lowe wrote a letter, dated June 30, and plans to share it with City Council during Tuesday's meeting.
"My husband and I are offended and categorically deny the Mayor’s casual, untrue allegations of election and property tax fraud as we are, without a doubt, residents of the City of Grand Haven," Councilwoman Lowe wrote in her letter.
She goes on to detail some personal reasons why she has been out of town from time to time, including helping her recently widowed mother in Pennsylvania.
Lowe says the allegations about her residency are only being brought up now because she voted in favor of a marijuana ordinance the mayor opposed.
McNally has not responded to that claim.
Grand Haven City Council meets Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m.
The letter is expected to be a part of the meeting, according to the agenda.
You can read Lowe's letter to Grand Haven City Council as well as a letter detailed by her attorney here:
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