Jason Hoskins: "My best intern was my mom."
"I'm so honored that Southfield voters decided to put their trust in me," said Jason Hoskins, who was elected to City Council Nov. 5. Hoskins already works with city officials in his role as legislative director to state Sen. Jeremy Moss; he said he is now looking forward to working with them as colleagues.
It was a tight race in Southfield, where voters cast more than 38,000 ballots. With their choice of up to four candidates from a field of eight, Hoskins placed fourth — just 29 votes ahead of his nearest competitor.
"Twenty-nine votes is a very slim margin," Hoskins acknowledged. "I think if I took maybe one or two days off and didn't talk to those voters I might not have won."
Hoskins said he owes his win to speaking with thousands of voters about the issues important to them — rain or shine — sending out a lot of mail and having the help of a team of volunteers. Above all, he singled out the assistance he received from his mother. "My best intern was my mom," Hoskins said. "Best unpaid intern I ever had, who did a tremendous amount of work. She helped me put stamps on hundreds of envelopes, she went and put out lawn signs with my dad. She has been a tremendous help to me."
As a council member, Hoskins said his biggest priority will be finding ways to attract people and businesses to the city.
"We have this older population in Southfield, and I'm really gonna be working with my colleagues to think of ways we can attract people, particularly younger people and younger families to Southfield," Hoskins said. "I'm glad I get to be one of the younger voices on council now to say, 'Here are some of the barriers.'"
Another high priority of his is to ensure that the city is collaborating with the school district.
Hoskins said he was grateful that in a season where several surrounding communities had contentious municipal elections, his competitors remained, in his words, "very collegial." "Whether I won or lost, the experience was an incredible privilege to be able to talk to so many voters about the issues that they care about, talk about how much we all love our city," Hoskins said.
Mike McFall: "I think it shows the directions the city is heading."
"The campaign went really well," said Mike McFall, newly elected to Hazel Park City Council. McFall ran alongside Andy LeCureaux to help with LeCureaux's reelection, which was also successful.
"We knocked on doors and connected with neighbors," he said. "We kept it positive, didn't go negative at all. I'm pretty happy with the positive campaign that we did."
McFall wants to focus on bringing new business to Hazel Park.
"We're trying to build a downtown along the John R corridor with the street diet that's occurring, including bike lanes," McFall said. "What we want to do next is make sure we're drawing in businesses to fill in a lot of the empty buildings that are along that corridor."
As a member of the Downtown Development Authority, McFall already has ideas and plans underway. In recognition of being the first openly LGBTQ member of Hazel Park City Council, McFall said, "I think it shows the direction that the city is heading. I'm pretty excited about it."
He'd like to plan future Pride flag-raising ceremonies, as he did in June of this year. But don't look for a Hazel Park Pride festival any time soon.
"I don't want to compete with next door," he said, in reference to Ferndale Pride.
"The support of the gay community in Hazel Park was overwhelming," McFall said. "Tim, the manager at Menjo's, actually lives in Hazel Park and he's the one that connected me to people that I didn't even realize lived in Hazel Park. I knew that we had a growing gay community, but he helped expand my knowledge of people that have been there for a long time."
McFall also mentioned his endorsement by the LGBTQ Victory Fund. And along with thanking state Sen. Jeremy Moss and state Rep. Robert Wittenberg for their help, he said that "the campaign was kind of stressful, so I'd definitely like to thank my husband."
Garnet Lewis: "It's a nice relief that I could actually win an election."
"For me it was pretty exciting, certainly a great victory," said Garnet Lewis, of her election to Saugatuck City Council. "It was really particularly wonderful here in Saugatuck because we elected three women, which now moves the city council from predominantly male to predominantly female." Of six candidates, three men were also on the ballot.
"It's a nice relief that I could actually win an election," said Lewis, who has run three times, unsuccessfully, for the state legislature, most recently for the 26th state Senate District last year. This time, the election returns reflect what could be characterized as a mandate: with an overwhelming turnout for a municipal election — nearly 50 percent — Lewis was by far the top vote-getter.
And the fact that Lewis won't be working in Lansing or that Saugatuck is a small town does not mean she is taking her new position any less seriously.
"I had a good conversation with a friend of mine this morning, who said, 'Garn, don't let anybody tell you that it doesn't matter or it's not as important as being on a city council in Grand Rapids or Traverse City.'" Lewis recalled. "'You're still dealing with a huge budget, you're still dealing with taxes, appropriating funds. …' It is a good a reminder that there is quite a bit of education that needs to happen on my part in order to do the job well."
Lewis suggested part of the previously mentioned "mandate" of her election, which also included electing likewise progressive Holly Leo, is a trend toward less conservatism on the council.
"Folks here want to see a different kind of council. They want to see a council that makes decisions and doesn't put up road blocks to things getting completed," Lewis said, perhaps in reference to an issue Saugatuck is facing with completing a non-motorized trail project, which Lewis said "history and personal baggage" have stalled.
Another priority for Lewis is finding solutions to flooding and other concerns related to Kalamazoo Lake. She'd also like to see the communities of Saugatuck City, Saugatuck Township and Douglas collaborate better. However, "My first goal is to update this freakin' charter so it's not gender-specific, as in 'he,'" Lewis said. "The old city charter still has, 'when he is elected,' and, 'he will be sworn in.' That's gotta change."
Finally, in addition to thanking her spouse, Vicki, for all her support over Lewis' several candidacies, Lewis wanted to give a shoutout to her friend and fellow Saugatuck resident Mark LaChey, first vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party and former chair of the LGBT & Allies Caucus "… who has for years been kind of quietly behind the scenes helping LGBTQ candidates. He deserves a lot of recognition for that."
