Ypsilanti City Council member Beth Bashert will be the city's next mayor. She joined WEMU's David Fair to talk about her plans for the city.
Bashert Wins Ypsilanti Mayoral Race
Beth Bashert will be the Mayor of Ypsilanti for the next four years. Bashert won a five-way race on Tuesday against candidates without party affiliation, including Anne Brown. Brown had sought to run against Bashert in the August democratic primary, but failed to turn in petition signatures in time to qualify for the ballot. So, she launched an independent, write-in campaign. The other candidates were Mickeila Tate, Adrienne Hirschfelder and Sheila McSpadden. Bashert will replace outgoing Mayor Amanda Edmonds who decided not to seek re-election after one term in office.
The only contested race for Ypsilanti City Council was in the 3rd Ward. Anthony Morgan defeated Desirae Simmons for the right to replace Brian Robb. Robb chose not to seek re-election.
In the 1st Ward, Nicole Brown was unopposed. The current Mayor Pro-Tem will serve another four-year term.
Jennifer Symanns will be the new 2nd Ward representative. Symanns was unopposed on Tuesday. She will replace Daniel Vogt on council. Vogt did not seek re-election.
Bashert’s election to the mayor’s office will leave a hole on council. Bashert won election to the 2nd ward council seat in 2016 and has two-years left in that term. Now that she has been elected Mayor, city council will be charged with appointing someone to fill the council chair. The 2nd ward council seat will then be determined at the next, regularly scheduled election.
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— David Fair is the WEMU News Director and host of Morning Edition on WEMU. You can contact David at 734.487.3363, on twitter @DavidFairWEMU, or email him at dfair@emich.edu
