Collections by Michelle Brown WSG Mayor David Coulter

For many the LGBT community in Metro Detroit is centered in Ferndale, Michigan. It has been the home of Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center since 1989. For many years, the city was the home of Motor City Pride before it moved to Detroit in 2011, and continues to host Ferndale Pride each June. The city, located just north of Detroit, is recognized for its diversity and inclusion, cozy neighborhoods and burgeoning business district. At the helm of “Fabulous Ferndale” is our guest Mayor Dave Coulter. Raised on the east side of Detroit, he broke with tradition moving west & settling in Ferndale. He was elected to the Oakland County Commission and served four terms on the Commission. Coulter was appointed Mayor of Ferndale in January 2011 after his predecessor resigned. He was then elected to the two-year position in November 2011. He was re-elected in 2013 and 2015. He is Ferndale’s second openly gay Mayor. He has worked as a civil engineering draftsman and school teacher. He served as the executive director of the Michigan AIDS Fund and a program officer for the Children's Hospital of Michigan Foundation. Ferndale’s mayor only works Part-time and shares executive roles with the city manager. Besides being mayor, a politician, an openly gay man, Coulter is an activist concerned with the rights and issues affecting all. In 2013, Coulter, along with Congressman Sander Levin, undertook a challenge in which they spent less than $4.50 a day on food. They did so to protest cuts to food stamps. In 2014, he became the first mayor in Michigan to perform same-sex marriages.Coulter believes “You can be a progressive city  that’s also focused on the bottom line.” That’s Ferndale normal! Learn more about “Ferndale Normal” as envisioned by its Mayor, Dave Coulter, on Thursday June 1, 2017 at 7PM