Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Davison Landslide

In yesterday's election Mac Fortner was elected Davison Mayor in a landslide and only one incumbent remains on the City Council. Gee, ya think maybe everyone was a teensy bit upset over the canopy removal and the plans for an expensive new municipal center to replace the current city hall and library? :)

I'm so pleased with the election I am pasting the statistics and an article from today's Flint Journal below. (I've linked to them, but I noticed when I when I was updating the category labels on my old entries that some links are now dead. From now on I will paste stuff I never want to lose in at the end of the appropriate blog entry.)



The City of Davison Election Results (unofficial) courtesy of The Davison Index.

Mayor
Fred "Mac" Fortner -- 452 -- 48.97%

James R. Hansen Jr. -- 246--26.65%
Charles Purdy--10--1.08%
Fred Rappuhn (I)--214--23.19%
Write-In --1--0.11%

City Council
Ralph Arceo (I)--363--15.21%
Tim Bishop--493--20.65%
Don Csutoras (I)--483--20.23%
James E. Hershberger--566--23.71%
Tom Lesnock--126--5.28%
Gordon Winther (I)--352--14.75%
Write-In --4--0.17%



Bad day for incumbents in Davison
DAVISON
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
By James L. Smith
Journal Staff Writer

DAVISON - A new mayor and two new City Council members will lead Davison after voters turned out several incumbents, including Mayor Fred Rappuhn.

Taking the city's top spot was Fred "Mac" Fortner, 60, former owner of Davison Home Bakery. Fortner won easily, nearly equaling the vote total of the three other mayoral candidates.

Fortner said residents told him a decision to explore building an expensive new City Hall was at the root of the change. He has opposed the City Hall project, promising to be conservative with the city's spending.

"I think Davison is ready for a change, and we're ready to pull the city back together," Fortner said. "I'm humbled, grateful, and blessed for all the support."

Fortner's win means Rappuhn, 53, a photo studio owner, will be off the City Council for the first time since 1982. Rappuhn finished third, behind Fortner and funeral director James Hansen.

A "surprised" Rappuhn blamed a controversy over the downtown canopy removal and streetscape improvements for his defeat.

"It was a canopy election," said Rappuhn, elected mayor in 2003. "I enjoyed the work I did with the city. It was fun while it lasted."

The news wasn't much better for council incumbents.

Only Don Csutoras, 64, one of three council veterans on the ballot, survived Tuesday's election. Challengers Jim Hershberger, 56, and Tim Bishop, 36, were elected.

Incumbents Ralph Arceo, 67, and Gordon C. Winther, 56, were defeated, along with challenger Tom Lesnock, 50.

Winther was appointed to his seat in June to fill the unexpired term of Kevin McKague, who resigned because of work requirements.

First up on the docket for the new council is the selection of a city manager to replace Pete Auger, who has accepted a job in Auburn Hills.

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