Monetza, Scott elected to council, Bergman retained as mayor

Wed, Nov 4, 2009    to del.icio.us

Bob Monetza and Dennis Scott are the two new faces on Grand Haven City Council.

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Monetza, who received 1,037 votes, and Scott, with 990 votes, were the top vote-getters in Tuesday's election, replacing outgoing council members Geri McCaleb and John Naser.

Monetza, a longtime member of the city's Planning Commission, is looking forward to continuing to work on city issues at a higher level.

"I can follow through with stuff I worked on for years," he said.

Monetza said it was an exciting and gratifying experience having won one of the two four-year seats available on City Council.

Scott was equally excited about taking over one of those seats.

"I appreciate the votes from the voters who have confidence in me," he said. "It's an awesome responsibility and I will take it very seriously."

Reigning in the remaining candidate votes include, Chad Lahey with 793 votes, Loren "Bud" Lothschutz with 631 votes and 114 votes for write-in candidates.

Mayor Roger Bergman will retain his seat, receiving 1,153 votes from city residents. Mayoral write-in candidates received 606 votes.

"I'm looking forward to working with a new City Council and building a team to work together," Bergman said.

He said now is not the time for city officials to look back, but rather look toward the future. Bergman plans to listen and consider all City Council's viewpoints, and looks forward to working with all of the city's officials and residents.

A Grand Haven City clerk official said it is unknown how many votes were cast for City Council hopeful Cynthia Fricano, as well as mayoral contender Mike Fritz — both write-in candidates — as results will be sent to the Ottawa County Board of Canvassers for write-in candidate verification.

Tuesday's election generated 25 percent of the city's 7,995 registered voters, according to unofficial results from the City Clerk's office.