Woods City Council Fills Vacant Seat

Grosse Pointe Woods City Council members told resident Kevin Ketels late Monday they want him to fill a vacancy created by a former member who moved to China. 

Ketels, 40, was one of 16 residents who applied for the seat. He will likely be sworn in next month, he said. 

"I wasn't expecting it," Ketels said of the late night phone call. "I'm excited to get started."

Ketels attended Monday's city council meeting and had left a short time before receiving the call, which is why the call was made, councilman Art Bryant said. They knew he was still up, Bryant said. 

The other 15 candidates are to be receiving notice of the decision in a hand-delivered letter, Bryant said. 

Discussion about the applicants began in a Committee of the Whole meeting before the council meeting and continued afterward. Mayor Robert Novitke told council members he wanted the process to happen sooner rather than later so whomever was selected could get started and have a vote in decisions. 

In the continued Committee of the Whole meeting, the mayor named each applicant and received feedback on where council members stood on that particular candidate. Ketels was the only one the majority agreed upon. 

Councilwoman Lisa Pinkos Howle had asked the mayor to give them more time to review the applications, explaining she didn't receive the bulk of the applications until the prior night. She later agreed to proceed with the discussion.

She said Tuesday that she would have liked to conduct interviews, but Ketels was the person the majority favored.

Councilwoman Vicki Granger said the quick decision was appropriate given the short term and looks forward to what Ketels can bring to the council. His networking and marketing skills are of particular interest, she said, noting the city's desire to expand its communication with residents and to market the city. 

Bryant said the decision may have happened quickly, but it wasn't without careful thought. He had already reviewed the applications of all 16 candidates and feels confident in the decision.

Ketels has lived in the Woods for four years. He and his wife have two children, ages 6 and 8, who attend Grosse Pointe Public Schools. 

He grew up on Detroit's east side and moved back to the Woods from out of state to open his business, KMED Research, in St. Clair Shores. He is also a professor at Wayne State University in the School of Business Administration.

Ketels has served on the city's Beautification Commission since May 2008 and enjoys the volunteer work, he said. 

"I'm thrilled and excited to serve Grosse Pointe Woods," Ketels said Tuesday, explaining he wants to make himself current on all of the issues as soon as possible. "I want to hit the ground running."

Ketels has regularly attended council meetings for quite a while, Granger said, explaining he should be up to speed rather quickly. That was another benefit in this selection, she said. 

Ketels will serve the council until a general election in November when residents will vote for a council member in that seat. The vacancy was created by former councilwoman Gabriela Boddy, who stepped down from the elected four-year term in December to move to China to follow her husband. 

Boddy served one year and one month of her term before resigning. The interim person to serve until November is selected by the majority vote of the city council.