Despite all the hoopla over state and national races and proposals, there will be other local elections in northeast Allegan County Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Those other elections include Wayland City Council, Martin Board of Education and the Villages of Martin and Hopkins.
City of Wayland — Mayor
Tim Bala, mayor since 2008, will face a challenge from one of the newest downtown business co-owners, Brian Sweebe of the Retro Room. It will be only the second time Bala, seekings his sixth two-year term, has had an opponent. Former Police Chief Dan Miller ran against him in 2012.
It’s not that the position is particularly lucrative. It pays only $500 per year and $65 per meeting.
The mayor is paid $125 per quarter and $65 per City Council meeting.
Sweebe has been a member of the Wayland Downtown Development Authority and has been
chairman of the Wayland Economic Restructuring Committee.
The three City Council seats feature three candidates, Tim Rose, Joe Kramer and Abe Garcia, all of whom are running unopposed.
Martin Board of Education
It’ll be a six-for-five contest that includes three incumbents. All seats are for four years.
The incumbents are Rodney Pillars, John Vandenberg and Vince Tuinstra. The newcomers are Angie Cameruci, Julie Pallet and Melanie Conley.
Cameruci, a graduate of the University of Michigan and Grand Valley State University, is a clinical social worker and has been on the JC Wheeler Library Board. She also has served as president of a parent-teacher group for Bandon Elementary.
Conley, an outpatient therapist at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in mental health counseling. She and her husband, Josh, serve as worship pastors at Alamo Congregational Community Church.
Pallet, a homemaker, is treasurer of the JC Wheeler Library Board and the Martin Band Boosters. She also has been active in the Odyssey of the Mind program.
Pillars, a lifelong Martin resident, has served on the school board for one four-year term. A farmer, he works for GVL Excavating.
Tuinstra, is current vice president of the Martin Board of Education, for which he has been a member for 10 years. He owns and operates Tuinstra Greenhouse and is manager of Michigan Fine Herbs.
VandenBerg is current treasurer of the school board and is seeking his second four-year term. He is employed by the City of Otsego.
Hopkins Village Council
Seven candidates will vie for six seats on the Village Council. All are for two-year terms.
Incumbents are Brian Ballard, Gregory Buist, Craig Osborn and Terry Weick. The challengers include Dawn Buist, Jonathon VanderWall and Ben Williams.
Ballard is an instruction paraprofessional. He is perhaps best known in the community as announcer for the high school basketball games and he does some spot announcing at football games.
Buist has a long career in public service, including the Hopkins Board of Education, secretary of the Hopkins Downtown Development Authority, and the Hopkins Village and Allegan County planning commissions.
Her husband, Greg Buist, is retired and has served as a trustee on the Hopkins Village Council for 10 years. Both Buists have declared they’d like to improve relations with the Gun Lake Tribe.
Osborn is a volunteer firefighter for the Hopkins Area Fire Department and is employed by Hopkins Public Schools.
VanderWall, is a pastor and relatively new to the area.
Weick, a Hopkins native is a taxidermist and has owned Weick’s Taxidermy for 25 years. He has has been on the Village Council for about 16 years.
Williams works for the Allegan County Environmental Health Department as a regulator, but is perhaps best known as former recycling coordinator for the county and as a member of the Williams Family musical group. He also has been active in local youth baseball programs.
Martin Village Council
The two open seats on the council will see a battle among three candidates. Two, Jason Dykstra and William Mohr, are joining incumbent Donald Flower on the ballot for a contest for two four-year terms.
Dykstra is a truck driver for Greenlines Transportation and and farmer. He and his wife and four sons have lived in the Martin school district for 21 years.
Flower, who is retired, has served on the Martin Village Council for 40 years and is chair of the Sewer and Water Committee.
Bill Mohr, 59, is self employed in the building/maintenance trade. He has been chairman of the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan for eight years.
