On the Ballot

Tuesday, November 6 is election day. Kalamazoo County will see elections for Kalamazoo City Commission, Portage City Council, and several tax proposals.

All seven seats on the Kalamazoo City Commission are up for election. The top seven vote-getters win, and the top vote-getter becomes Mayor. Six incumbent commissioners are running for reelection, and five challengers are on the ballot. Two homeless people are running as write-ins. One of the challengers has been convicted of embezzlement. A forum was held at Western for the candidates to express their views.

Portage Mayor Peter Strazdas is unopposed for reelection. Three seats on the Portage City Council are up for election. Two incumbents, Margaret O'Brien and Larry DeShazor, are running for reelection. Three challengers are also running.

Several tax proposals are also on the ballot. Kalamazoo is seeking renewal of a millage for Metro Transit, the local bus system. Kalamazoo County voters approved a tax increase for the bus system last November.

The Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency (KRESA) put a tax increase proposal on the ballot for some of its programs. This is similar, but slightly smaller, than a tax increase proposal that voters shot down last May. There are questions about how they are promoting the proposal.

Portage Public Schools has two tax increase proposals on the ballot. They are similar, but slightly smaller, than a proposal that was shot down by voters in February.

The Kalamazoo County Taxpayers Association has urged voters to oppose all these proposals.

You can see election results at Election Magic.

Predictions:
Kalamazoo (in order): Hopewell, McKinney, Anderson, Cooney, Miller, McCann, Barnard, Moore, Davis, Schaff, Jackson, Braun, Suarez.
Portage (in order): O'Brien, DeShazor, Fox, Campbell, Bailes.
Buses: Yes 65%
KRESA: No 52%
Portage 1: No 55%
Portage 2: No 55%