List of mayors of Traverse City, Michigan

Mayor of the City of Traverse City
Incumbent Amy Shamroe since November 13, 2023
Style	Mr. Mayor
Term length	Two years; renewable
Inaugural holder	Perry Hannah
Formation	1895

Traverse City, Michigan is a home rule, charter city under the Home Rule Cities Act, incorporated on May 18, 1895. The city is governed by six commissioners and a mayor, elected at-large. Together they comprise a seven-member legislative body. The commission appoints a city manager who acts as chief executive for city operations. Below is a list of mayors and village presidents in Traverse City, Michigan. ^[1] The mayor of Traverse City, Michigan is Amy Shamroe. ^[2]

Village presidents (1881–1895)

Number	Name	Years	Notes
1	Perry Hannah	1881–1885	This was his first term. Perry Hannah was the first village president of Traverse City.
2	Benjamin D. Ashton	1886
3	Perry Hannah	1887–1894	This was his second term.

First city charter (1895–1940)

Traverse City has been a city since 1895. The following are the first 24 mayors under the first city charter: ^[3]

Number	Name	Year(s)	Notes
1	Perry Hannah	1895	Perry Hannah was the first Mayor of Traverse City, Michigan. He previously served as village president prior to the changeover to a mayoral system. Owner of Perry Hannah House and namesake of Hannah Avenue and Park
2	Harry C. Davis	1896	Namesake of Davis Street
3	William W. Smith	1897–1898
4	Frank Hamilton	1899	Namesake of Hamilton Street
5	Alfred V. Friedrich	1900
6	John Patchin	1901
7	Oscar P. Carver	1902	Namesake of Carver Street
8	John R. Santo	1903	Namesake of Santo Street
9	Elisha J. Fulghum	1904
10	A.V. Friedrich	1905–1907
11	William D.C. Germaine	1908–1909	This was his first term. He was the owner, editor, and publisher of the weekly newspaper, the Traverse City Transcript. He was born on October 17, 1866, in Traverse City to Cuyler Germaine and Anna Kratochvil. He married Ola W. Hull on July 27, 1895. He died on January 3, 1943, in Traverse City. [4]
12	Emanuel Wilhelm	1910–1911
13	William D.C. Germaine	1912	This was his second term.
14	John G. Straub	1913
15	C.L. Greilick	1914–1915	Namesake of Camp Greilick in East Bay Township
16	Edward Lautner	1916–1917
17	Lafayette Swanton	1918–1922
18	James T. Milliken	1923–1928	Father of future governor William Milliken
19	George W. Lardie	1929–1930
20	Charles C. Wells	1931–1932
21	E.L. Thirlby	1933–1934	Namesake of Thirlby Field
22	Moses Orville Champney	1935–1936	He was born on March 14, 1887, in Birmingham, Ohio. He died on July 12, 1952, in Traverse City.
23	Conrad H. Foster	1937–1938	He was the founder of the Clinch Park Zoo, and also founder and namesake of the Con Foster Museum in Traverse City. [5] The zoo closed in 2006 and the museum prior to that. [6] He died of a heart attack in Traverse City on April 3, 1940. [7]

City commission elections (1941–2000)

In 1940, a new city charter amendment was passed, allowing for mayors to be voted for directly by the city commission of Traverse City.

Number	Name	Years	Notes
24	Adolph LaFranier	1939–1940	Namesake of LaFranier Road
25	Orr E. Mead	1941
26	Delmer R. Zimmerman	1942
27	J.E. Ehrenberger	1943
28	Carl Anderson	1944
29	Ben H. Koenig	1945
30	F.G. Swartz	1946–1947
31	Hugh J. Johnson	1948
32	Peter Clancy	1949
33	Wilbur G. Watson	1950
34	Julius C. Sleder	1951
35	Jack D. Nelson	1952
36	J. Kent Wright	1953
37	Charles H. Round	1954
38	Frank H. Power	1955–1956
39	A.R. Jacobs	1957
40	J.H. Stevens	1958
41	Fritz Coppens	1959
42	H.R. Murchie	1960	Namesake of Murchie Bridge
43	Frank L. Stulen	1961	Namesake of Parsons-Stulen Building
44	Larry Hardy	1962
45	Robert H. Chase	1963
46	Ralph Puclipher	1964
47	Kenneth Lindsay	1965
48	Carter B. Strong	1966
49	Vincent Fochtman	1967
50	Royce Kephart	1968
51	Nick Rajkovich	1969
52	William K. Lynch	1970
53	John Rokos	1971
54	Richard Purvis	1972
55	John W. Rennie	1973
56	Carl Huffman	1974
57	Diane C. Gilbo	1975
58	Raymond L. Sutton	1976
59	Howard A. Bartling	1977
60	Peter C. Dendrinos	1978	Namesake of Dendrinos Center and Dendrinos Drive
61	Calvin G. Martin	1979
62	Norman A. Kline	1980
63	Lawrence A. Muzzarelli	1981–1982
64	Carol J. Hale	1983
65	Frederick D. Nelson	1984
66	Phillip E. Orth	1985
67	Gerald M. Williams	1986
68	Geraldine D. Greene	1987
69	Bryan J. Crough	1988
70	Phillip E. Rodgers Jr.	1989
71	Al Ritchie	1990
72	Jim F. Tompkins Jr.	1991
73	Peter T. Taylor	1992
74	Linda M. Johnson	1993
75	Jack E. Boynton	1994
76	Jim F. Tompkins Jr.	1995
77	Peter T. Taylor	1996
78	Shelley A. Kester	1996
79	Phillip E. Orth	1997
80	Larry Hardy	1998
81	Jim F. Tompkins Jr.	1999
82	Linda Smyka	2000
83	Larry Hardy	2001

City voter elections (2000–present)

In 2000, a new city charter amendment allowed for the citizens of Traverse City to vote directly for mayor. Mayors now could hold unlimited terms of two years.

Number	Name	Years	Notes
84	Margaret B. Dodd	2001–2003
85	Linda Smyka	2003–2005
86	Michael Estes	2005–2007	One term, first time in office.
87	Chris M. Bzdok	2009–2011
88	Michael Estes	2011–2015	Two terms, second time in office.
89	Jim Carruthers	2015–2021	Served three consecutive terms, and was Traverse City's first openly gay mayor
90	Richard Lewis	2021–2023	Former city council member [8]
91	Amy Shamroe	2023–	Mayor pro tem from 2017 to 2023; reelected in 2025

References

1. "Mayors of Traverse City, Michigan". Political Graveyard . Retrieved January 13, 2018.
2. "Meet Your Commissioners | City Commission | Traverse City". City of Traverse City. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
3. "List of Mayors of Traverse City" (PDF).
4. Perry F. Powers, Harry Gardner Cutler (1912). "Honorable William D.C. Germaine". A History of Northern Michigan and Its People. Lewis Publishing Company. p. 1078.
5. "Who Was Con Foster?". theTicker. November 23, 2013.
6. Jeff Frost. "Maybe the last year for "The Spirit of Traverse City"". Railway Preservation News.
7. "Who Was Con Foster?". theTicker. November 23, 2013.
8. "Richard Lewis Ready to Take Over as Traverse City Mayor". 9 & 10 News. November 4, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.