KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — There will be three new faces on the next Kalamazoo City Commission and no changes on the Portage City Council.
Kalamazoo incumbent Mayor Bobby Hopewell scorched challenger Kris Mbah by a 5,000-vote margin. Hopewell won 6,490 to 857.
Don Cooney will serve as Vice Mayor.
Incumbent Commissioners Dave Anderson and Jack Urban have won reelection. Newcomers Erin Knott, Shannon Sykes, and Matt Milcarek have won the three remaining seats.
They will be sworn in next week and soon after start work on next year’s budget.
It means incumbent Eric Cunningham has been ousted.
In Portage, incumbent city council members Richard Ford, Jim Pearson and Patricia Randall will all be back.
Mayor Peter Strazdas won another two years in the position. He was unopposed.
– John McNeill
