Election results: Holland council contests decided, Hamilton bond fails
Carolyn Muyskens
HOLLAND — Voters chose city council representatives in Holland, Zeeland, Saugatuck and Douglas and rejected a bonding proposal for Hamilton Community Schools and a city charter amendment in Fennville in local elections held Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Holland city election: Byrd, Coronado win contested races
In the city of Holland, the mayorship and four council seats were up for election Nov. 2.
Mayor Nathan Bocks, a local attorney, ran unopposed for his second term in office after winning election in 2019. Mayors in Holland are elected to two-year terms.
One of two at-large city council seats — at-large seats represent the whole city — was up for election. Current council member Quincy Byrd, in his sixth year on council, faced off against Ken Freestone, who served on city council for one term from 1993 to 1997.
Byrd secured re-election Tuesday night, with 2,795 votes (55.2 percent) to Freestone's 2,268 votes, according to unofficial tallies available Tuesday night.
Long-serving Ward 1 council member and mayor pro tem Myron Trethewey is retiring from public service this year. Tim Vreeman, a pastor and funeral chaplain, will fill his position.
In Ward 3, Belinda Coronado won a contest with Mike Mabie, 361 votes to 215, to represent the ward. Coronado replaces Raul Garcia, who did not file for re-election this year.
Ward 5 council member Scott Corbin ran unopposed for re-election. Corbin also serves as the director of emergency management and homeland security for Allegan County.
Voter turnout in Holland was down from 2019, when the city saw 28.5 percent turnout and a close mayor's race.
A total of 5,137 people voted in Tuesday's election, 19 percent of registered voters in the city.
Across Ottawa County, total turnout for municipalities that held local elections was 20.8 percent. In Allegan County, voter turnout was 18.32 percent.
Hamilton Community Schools bond proposal fails for second time
Voters in the Hamilton Community Schools district rejected the district's second try at a bond proposal by 179 votes Nov. 2. The proposal was defeated 1,279-1,476, with 53.6 percent of voters opposed, according to unofficial vote tallies.
Last year's ask was defeated with 62 percent opposition.
The school district had cut the proposal down to $21.7 million from the August 2020 proposal of $65.6 million, striking plans to build a new middle school and community recreation center and focusing on renovating existing facilities.
The bond plans included a new eight-classroom wing for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and special education at Hamilton Elementary School and multipurpose addition at the high school, plus roofing, utility, technology and bus upgrades throughout the schools. The district would have levied a 1.85 mill debt millage to pay off the bonds, but the total tax rate for residents would have been unchanged because other debts were being retired.
Fennville charter amendment fails
A charter amendment that would have raised the maximum millage in the city of Fennville was rejected by voters, 37 votes to 44.
The amendment, if passed, would have raised the ceiling on what the city can charge in local taxes from 15 mills to 20 mills, which is the maximum allowed by state law.
Fennville currently levies about 14.8 mills for its general operating millage. Residents are also charged just under 0.8 mills for public safety and 1 mill for fire safety, about 16.5 mills total.
If the ballot proposal passed, city officials had said the public safety and fire safety millages would have been eliminated and the city would have used one tax for all city services.
Other local election results
City of Zeeland
- Mayor: Kevin Klynstra (incumbent) 647 votes
- Council members (three positions): Jim Broersma (incumbent) 606 votes, Richard Van Dorp III (incumbent) 611 votes, and Glenn Kass (incumbent) 569 votes.
City of Saugatuck
- Council members (three positions): Russ Gardner 212 votes, Garnet Lewis (incumbent) 172 votes, and Holly Leo (incumbent) 167 votes.
City of Douglas
- Council members (three positions): Cathy North (incumbent) 284 votes, Jerry Donovan (incumbent) 247 votes, Robert Naumann 228 votes and Demetrhea Terrien 193 votes.
City of Fennville
- Commissioner (three positions): Brenda Langston (incumbent), 73 votes. Two candidates, Tori Lyn Machan and Dennis Martin, also filed as write-in candidates. Write-in results were not immediately available.
- City Charter Amendment: Fails, 37-44. Voters rejected an amendment to the city charter to raise the maximum tax rate the city can levy from 15 mills to 20 mills, which is the maximum allowed by state law.
Saugatuck Township
- Road Millage Renewal: Passes, 478-177. Voters were asked to authorize a 5-year renewal of the township's road maintenance millage of just under 1 mill.
City of Grand Haven
- Mayor: Catherine McNally 1,673 votes, Robert Monetza 1,080 votes
- Council member (two seats): Karen Lowe 1,615 votes, Kevin McLaughlin 1,564 votes, Mike Dora (incumbent) 1,089 votes, Dennis Scott (incumbent) 752 votes.
- City Charter amendment 1 "Inaccurate Language": Passes with 81.2 percent support. Deletes “inaccurate” language in city charter establishing a city hospital as a department of the City; establishing a city library as a department of the City; giving the City representation on the Ottawa County Board of Supervisors; and creating "The Municipal Court of the City of Grand Haven."
- City Charter amendment 2 - "Gender Biased Pronouns": Passes with 58.6 percent support. Replaces gendered pronouns in the charter (such as he/she, his/hers, him/her) with gender-neutral pronouns (such as they/their/them).
- City Charter amendment 3 - "Mandatory Attendance": Passes with 71.9 percent support. Eliminates requirement for city attorney to attend all city council meetings.
- Grand Haven Board of Light and Power Trustee (two positions): Andrea Hendrick 1,670 votes, Michael Westbrook 1,387 votes, Geri McCaleb 910 votes, Andy Cawthon 899 votes.
— Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens.