By: Mike DeWitt
The results are in!
Kentwood and Wyoming residents visited the polls yesterday to cast their votes in the local elections and proposals. Between the two cities, there were two school district proposals and three city commission elections.
Kentwood
Commissioner At Large
Incumbent Commissioner-at-large Steven Redmond (appointed in March 2015) ran against Thomas Webb. Webb won the August primary by 46 votes, but both he and Redmond had to run again in November because neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote. This time, Redmond toppled Webb by winning 54 percent of the vote with a final tally of 2,147 to 1,855.
Commissioner (1st Ward)
Robert Coughlin ran for re-election against William Wenzel, and the voters decided to keep the incumbent in his chair. Coughlin won the race with 67 percent of the vote in a final tally of 1,293 to 637.
Commissioner (2nd Ward)
Michael Brown ran unopposed for his re-election. Brown pulled in all 1,715 votes.
Kentwood Public Schools
After voters initially said no to a $64.86 million bond proposal back in May (by only 353 votes), the Kentwood School District rededicated their efforts towards getting the word out on why the bond was needed. The new bond focused on building, security, and technology renovations and improvements. It was placed back on to the November ballot and passed by a vote count of 3,125 to 2,108.
Wyoming
Wyoming Public Schools
Voters in Wyoming voted to pass a building and site sinking fund for Wyoming Public Schools that will raise about $400,000 each year. The sinking fund will go to infrastructure repairs like roofs, parking lots, doors, windows, and boilers. The fund should get the district to 2021, then a millage can be proposed to renovate all the schools in the district.
