Election brings village council back to full strength

By: 
Dennis Mansfield, Contributing Writer

Courtesy photo

Robert Bishop

 

KALKASKA – Now that the votes have been tallied and new members sworn into office, the Kalkaska Village Council is back to full strength.

The council had been operating with only six members since its September regular meeting, when trustee Penny Dupuie announced she was resigning due to the fact she and her family were moving out of state.

With the Nov. 6 general election looming, the council had to wait to get back to a full complement of seven members.

Actually, the council remained at full membership. Dupuie never formally submitted an official letter of resignation to Village President Harley Wales, leaving the council unable to vote and confirm her leaving the local board.

In leaving the September meeting, Dupuie stated she might be back to attend the October meeting. But, she was absent at both the October and November council meetings.

The Nov. 6 general election made any official resignation moot, as Dupuie’s four-year term in office was set to expire.

Overall, the new council will feature two new faces - Michelle Miller and Robert Bishop.

Miller was one of three candidates to win full terms as trustees, having garnered 266 votes. Incumbents Tim Ellis (290) and Robert Larsen (227) also won four-year terms, as seven candidates competed for three seats featuring four-year terms.

The trio beat out incumbent Erik Hayes (215), who was appointed earlier in the year to replace Denise Kelly, as well as challengers Annette Goodyear (204), Shana North (164) and Cameron Porteus (182).

After topping former Village President Jeff Sieting in a special recall election in May, Wales won his first full, two-year term as the council’s leader unopposed with 599 votes.

In a unique twist, no candidate filed to run for the last two years of Kelly’s term in office in time to be on the Nov. 6 ballot. However, two candidates – Robert Bishop and Marianne Price – later filed to run as write-in candidates.

The winner wasn’t immediately announced on election night. But, once all the votes were tallied, Bishop became the seventh and final council member, topping Price 34 to 23 votes.

Read the full story in our regular edition of The Review. To subscribe to the paper for just $34 a year, which includes access to our full online e-edition, please go to the subscription page on this website at: http://www.antrimreview.net/subscribe/

 

Category:

The Review

 

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 313
Bellaire, MI 49615
Phone: 231-533-5651
Fax: 231-533-4662
 
Physical Address: 
4470 S. M-88 Hwy.
Bellaire, MI 49615

View Map

Email Us

Facebook Facebook Twitter

Latest articles

Wed, 03/27/2024 - 2:06pm
Wed, 03/27/2024 - 2:05pm
Wed, 03/27/2024 - 2:04pm

Please Login for Premium Content