Cassopolis Village Council elects new members

Published 2:57 pm Wednesday, November 4, 2020

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CASSOPOLIS — When the Cassopolis Village Council hosts its next meeting on Nov. 10, it will have a new look as two write-in candidates were elected to partial two-year terms on Tuesday.

David Johnson will remain the village president, as he ran unopposed.

President Pro-Tem Frank Williams Jr. won re-election to a four-year term, while trustees Stefon Luckey and Kimberley Danzy-Yeager were both re-elected to four-year terms. Danzy-Yeager was appointed to the council earlier this year to fill a vacancy. By village rules, she had to be re-elected to a full term.

Asali Kelly and Jim Pederson were the two write-in candidates who were elected on Tuesday. They fill a pair of two-year partial terms that will be up in November 2022.

According to unofficial results, Johnson, who became village president in 2016, won re-election with 394 votes. There were 21 write-in votes.

“I’m very proud of all the difficult and often boring work by our manager [Emilie Sarratore], myself and trustees in preparing for all of the exciting work we see taking place now,” Johnson said. “In the years ahead, I hope Cassopolis will be seen as more than just a friendly lakeside community. The people have tasked this council with a continued drive to beautification in our community, more businesses relocating to Cassopolis and increased support for our local folk to start their own successful businesses. We have a lot more work ahead of us and I am confident this council is up to the job.”

Danzy-Yeager finished with 315 votes, Lucky 271, Williams 270 and Jim Bronke, who was running for one of the four-year trustee seats, finished with 113 votes.

There were a total of 28 write-in votes.

“I am excited to be a responsible fiduciary for the village, and speak for people like myself who have felt unheard in the past,” Kelly said. “I want to bring the youth of our community to the table and hear what they want to see in their future Cassopolis, move in new businesses and bring what our village used to be, and can be a better version today.”

Kelly said that the village has seen a lot of improvement of late and wants to continue it moving forward.

“I am certain that myself, along with the other professionals on the board, will be able to come together and make Imagine Cass and all other endeavors we pursue as a council to fruition,” she said. “I am extremely proud of downtown and the beach being put in. I know this will bring life to the village, and it’s just the beginning.”

Pederson also looks forward to continuing the improvements the village is making.

“As a relative newcomer, I will follow the lead of the experienced council members,” he said. “I want to continue the upgrades to village infrastructure, and carefully improve our greatest asset — Stone Lake. Again, relatively new here, but it seems to me the village council has set about improving the look and appeal of the village. We are on track to have a very appealing town and lakefront.”