Former Alpena Mayor Receives Honorary Award

Former Alpena mayor Carol Shafto was recognized for her decades of service to Alpena with the Honorary Life Membership Award.

The award was bestowed onto Shafto at the Michigan Municipal League’s Annual Capital Conference Awards Gala on Tuesday. The Honorary Life Membership Award, which is the highest honor an individual can receive from the league, celebrates only the most dedicated and inspiring leaders of the league.

Born into extreme poverty in the northern Michigan community, in time Shafto grew to accept her role as one of the steadfast pillars of the community that raised her. Growing up in Onaway with seven siblings, she pursued education at ACC as a way to break through her economic limitations.

Shafto began her career in public service with 8 years on the Alpena Planning Commission. She’s been involved with the Michigan Municipal League since the mid nineties and was appointed to the league’s Board of Trustees in 2008. She was also a member of the Michigan Association of Mayors and Michigan Women in Municipal Government.

Shafto points to her first mentor, former league president Jim Sinclair as the reason she got involved with the league in the first place saying, “Jim Sinclair always believed in me. He pushed me to be a better public servant and a better person.”