By Megan Kelley
Editor
mkelley@mihomepaper.com
INDEPENDENCE TWP. — Independence Township has officially hired Lauren Rinke as the township’s new Public Information Officer.
The position was filled earlier this month after the position was left vacant by former PIO Laura Haynes in March of this year.
Rinke comes to the position after 15 years in higher education working in writing and rhetoric at Oakland University and was the Director of the Writing Center at the University of Detroit Mercy.
She is a 13-year resident of Independence Township and has been involved with the community in a number of ways including volunteering at the Clarkston Independence District Library, serving on the PTO for North Sashabaw Elementary School and has interviewed twice to be on the Clarkston Community Schools Board of Education.
In her free time, she owns a used bookmobile and donates books to the two Title One schools in the Clarkston school district and has worked with Independence Township Parks and Recreation and the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I’ve been involved and engaged in the community since we’ve lived here so it seems like a natural transition,” Rinke said. “As a resident, I think it’s important for our constituents to know what’s going on and how their tax dollars are being spent. I feel a responsibility.”