Politics & Government

Residents Elect 2 Incumbents, 2 Newcomers to Grosse Pointe Woods Council

The new faces include Michael Koester and Richard Shetler Jr. Meanwhile, Kevin Ketels and Art Bryant were re-elected.

Residents in seated Tuesday.

Michael Koester and Richard Shetler Jr. are newcomers to the city council and will each serve four year terms. Art Bryant begins his next four year term on council.

Kevin Ketels, who sought to complete the partial term vacated by former councilwoman Gabriela Boddy, won by about 500 votes. Allison M. Secord also sought the two-year term with a focus of keeping young professionals in the Woods.

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The newcomers replace councilwoman Lisa Pinkos Howle and Joseph Sucher, both of whom have hinted at future endeavors in public service but have not defined what they may be.

Shetler, Ketels and Bryant along with Mayor Robert Novitke watched the results filter in Tuesday in the Grosse Pointe Woods council chambers. The results were projected onto a wall and updated every time information from another precinct came in. 

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A breakdown of the votes shows that many residents did not log votes for the maximum number of candidates to which they were entitled. In the general race among council candidates, there were 2,340 "under votes"--signifying that many people voted for less than three candidates out of the total pool of four. 

In the partial term race, 182 residents did not vote for either candidate.

Meanwhile, candidate Jill Jarboe, who did not do any campaigning, post any yard signs or participate in , received more than 1,100 votes.

The breakdown of votes:

Full Term Council Candidate Votes Art Bryant 2053 Jill Jarboe 1,177 Michael Koester 2,047 Richard Shetler Jr. 2,065 Partial Term Seat Council Candidate Kevin Ketels 1,786 Allison M. Secord 1,261

Of 13,120 registered voters, 3,232 residents lodged their vote, meaning the Woods had about 25 percent voter turnout.

The new council will hold their first meeting later this month.


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