COVER PHOTO: City Hall clerks’ office will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Monday to accommodate voters three days before Election Day.

Though 2023 is referred to as an off-year election, there will be three votes taken on Tuesday, Nov. 7, in this area, including the City of Wayland, the Martin School District and the Village of Hopkins.

Featured will be an election of three City Council members, a bond proposal for Martin Public Schools and a Headlee rollback override request for the Village of Hopkins.

The council race will be a four-for-three affair that includes two newcomers and two incumbents. The newcomers are Jerry Jansen III and Grace Sefranik. The incumbents are Tracy Bivins and Steve Stepek. The seats are for two years, expiring in November 2025.

Council members Abe Garcia, Joe Kramer and Norm Taylor won their positions in the November 2022 vote and won’t have to run again until one year hence. The same is true for Mayor Jennifer Antel.

The following is a sketch of each of the four candidates on the Nov. 7 ballot:

Tracy Bivins

Tracy Bivins has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the City Council. She was first elected in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014 and 2016, but resigned in 2018 because of health issues. She returned to council in 2020, appointed to succeed the late Gary Smith.

A lifelong resident of Wayland and a Wayland High School graduate, she and her husband Mark live on Sycamore Street.

Jerry Jansen III

Jerry Jansen III was born and raised in Wayland Township and his parents have owned the local United Collision business. He graduated from Wayland High School in 2013 is is finishing work on a degree in business administration from Grand Rapids Community College.

Jansen has been active in the community through coaching youth football, volunteer work and frequenting the city’s small businesses.

He and his wife Shelby have two daughters.

Grace Sefranik

Not really a newcomer, Grace Sefranik ran for a council seat a year ago and just missed by 49 votes.

She said Americans have “gotten so stuck on party affiliation that we’ve closed our eyes to the wrongs of our own party while we’re busy pointing fingers at the other side. If you ask me, both parties are two sides of the same disappointing coin.”

She has indicated she believes the quest for power has overcome service to common everyday folks. She is an advocate for term limits.

Sefranik, a frequent attendee at council meetings, grew up in the Hopkins area and was home schooled. She and her husband have two children.

Steve Stepek

While technically an incumbent, Stepek is the newest City Council member, having been appointed to the council a year ago to succeed Mayor Jennifer Antel, who had to resign in order to run for mayor. He served on the City Planning Commission for a year before that.

He has a bachelor’s degree in geography and planning, and a master of public administration degree from Grand Valley State University. He is now  executive director of the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Kalamazoo area and a part-time adjunct professor.

“When we needed to move closer to my place of employment, we carefully researched the surrounding areas and chose Wayland for its walkable community, engaging town activities and good schools,” Stepek said. “Over time, my family has become very involved in our community. From volunteering for the Planning Commission, City Council, various downtown events, youth sports, working on the school bond issue, or just visiting one of our many local businesses, it is very likely you’ve seen a member of the Stepek family out and about in the city!”

Hopkins Village seeks Headlee rollback override

The Village of Hopkins in the Tuesday, Nov. 7, election will ask local voters to restore the original authorized 10-mill levy. Local officials say passage of the request will result in avoiding a cut of about $30,000 in the budget without increasing the millage levy.

The Village Council, in a public statement, said, “The short story is: at the end of this year, a special millage that was approved 10 years ago falls off.  When this happens, we will lose somewhere in the ballpark of $30,000 from our budget.  Approving this would allow the council to assess and collect taxes at our current level, thus averting this falloff.”

The village’s authorized levy of 10 mills over time has been “rolled back” to 5.427 because of provisions of the Headlee Amendment. Passage of the request Nov. 7 will result in restoration of 4.5713 mills lost in the rollback to the original authorized millage.

The estimate of the revenue the village will collect is approximately $69,557.10, a portion of which (approximately $11,021) will be disbursed to the Village of Hopkins Downtown Development Authority.

Martin Schools seek bond approval without millage hike

Martin School District voters will be asked by Tuesday, Nov. 7, to approve an extension of the current bond rate for seven more years to fund infrastructure and building improvements.

Supt. Samantha Ball stressed that residents won’t have to pay any extra taxes each year, but instead will have the current millage rate of seven mills continued between the years 2045 and 2052. 

School district residents now pay seven mills annually after passage in 2016 of a bond proposal that has resulted in solar power being installed in all buildings. But the superintendent has said there are a few additional projects that need to be undertaken in years ahead.

The building improvements proposed are:

• Replacement of mechanical and electrical infrastructure to provide sufficient heating and air conditioning. Ball said she believes Martin is perhaps the only school system in the area without air conditioning in classrooms.
• Consolidating the band room and Clipper room to create more space for band and choir programs and more space for elementary music.
• Renovations and additions to the cafeteria so that students can use new space to enable age separation for diners and multi-purpose activities. The move also would include updates for the kitchen and dining areas, as well as shipping and receiving.
• Renovation of classrooms to help meet the educational needs of the youngest students and addition of restrooms, plus a secure outdoor learning space in the outdoor courtyard.
• Upgrades to the elementary library and creation of added multi-purpose space for technology learning.

The current annual bond rate is seven mills, and it expires in the year 2045. The extension, if approved next month, would expire in 2052. The extension then would generate $17.51million.