Greimel wins mayoral race in Pontiac, Fournier reelected in Royal Oak

Tim Greimel received 62% of Tuesday's votes cast in the race to be Pontiac's next mayor with 100% of precincts counted.

Greimel, a former county commissioner and state lawmaker, defeated Alexandria Riley, the city's former development chief, in a race to replace Mayor Deirdre Waterman, the city's first female mayor, according to unofficial election results. Waterman was tossed from the August ballot over campaign finance issues before she waged an unsuccessful write-in campaign in the primary election. 

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Riley, 35, received about 37% of the vote. Both candidates had agreed that change is overdue in Pontiac.

Greimel, 47, has said voters had to choose “if they want to do things as they always have been done or with (his) experienced competent leadership.” 

Riley, a lifelong resident of the city, argued "our elected leadership has failed us" and that she's ready to “usher in a new generation of leadership.”

Greimel raised more than $137,000 in campaign donations in the past year from a variety of sources, including local businessmen and unions, according to the most recent pre-election campaign filings. Riley's election committee missed the deadline for filing financial reports and previously was assessed a $500 fee and reported to the Michigan Attorney General's Office for not filing statements before the primary.

Waterman, who did not file to run as a write-in for the general election, inherited a multitude of problems when she took office in 2014. The city of 61,600 residents was bleeding red ink and staved off bankruptcy only after three state-appointed emergency managers made painful budget cuts.

The city laid off employees and its police and fire departments were disbanded in favor of policing by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and fire services from the Waterford Township Regional Fire Department. City facilities, like youth centers, were shuttered and many city-owned properties, including the Pontiac Silverdome, were sold off at a small fraction of what it cost to build them with taxpayer dollars.

No longer on the brink of bankruptcy, state oversight or budget debt, the city under Waterman welcomed businesses like Amazon, United Wholesale Mortgage and the Henry Ford Health System. It's seen hundreds of blighted buildings torn down and a decade after Pontiac's police department was disbanded, crime has decreased.

Greimel said his top priorities are improving basic services and youth recreation and fixing the roads. He also wants to create job training and job placement programs.

Riley, the city’s former chief development officer, is now sales and development director for the Genesee County Land Bank Authority. 

Riley unsuccessfully challenged Waterman in 2017 and ran for the Oakland County Commission in 2012. She has said she's confident her voter supporter will grow into the general election.

Angela Rakowski, 48, of Pontiac grew up here and moved back six years ago. She wants to see her city revived and on Tuesday voted for Riley because she agreed with some of her redevelopment plans.  

“I liked her ideas the best,” she said.  “I’m really big on the historic preservation of the city and one of the things she spoke of … was removing a lot of the cement that's in the city and bringing back the Clinton River so we could have a boardwalk and a waterway.” 

Rakowski wants to see more businesses open up shop in Pontiac and doesn’t see any reason why the city’s downtown can’t become comparable to the likes of Birmingham’s, especially with the presence and growth of United Wholesale Mortgage and Amazon here. 

“There’s a ton of room for expansion, restaurants, nightlife, different things like that,” she said. 

Life-long Pontiac resident Tommy Eason Jr., 59, also wants to see redevelopment in his city but he said he was voting for Greimel to see it happen. 

“Tim is someone we need to change the city infrastructure, school district, sports for the kids, everything,” Eason said. “We need somebody that’s experienced that can reach out to DC and bring funding here to make a change, not someone that's inexperienced.” 

He also remembers how Greimel came and spoke to his mother, Bessie, on her birthday while he was out campaigning in the neighborhood. 

“He actually walked into our yard, spoke to my mom and we all supported him,” he said. 

Royal Oak

Incumbent Mayor Michael Fournier was elected to another term Tuesday garnering 64% of total votes cast compared to 36% for challenger Tom Roth.

Fournier was challenged by Roth, a software engineer and current commander of the Frank Wendland American Legion Post No. 253 in Royal Oak. He is part of a group of candidates dubbed the “A-Team” that were also contesting four city commissioners up for reelection. But all incumbent commissioners survived winning by as much as a 2-1 margins over their opponents.

The four commission challengers were Derrick George, Richard Karlowski, Pamela Lindell and William Barnes. None of them have held public office. They challenged commissioners Monica Hunt, Melanie Macey, Brandon Kolo and Sharlan Douglas.

The challengers have criticized no-bid contracts for a multimillion-dollar downtown project that includes a park, new city buildings and parking garages and argue city leaders are pushing ballot proposals that would override city ordinances, hurt neighborhoods and put the city in a financial hole.

But Royal Oak's incumbents have defended the city's downtown development plan, noting it underwent extensive community vetting. They have called the proposed charter amendments standard "housekeeping." 

Voters appeared to agree, approving six amendments by substantial margins and only rejecting the most contentious ballot measures, concerning the protection and preservation of the Veterans War Memorial. Approval would have relocated it to a previous location about 40 feet away. Fully 70% of voters rejected that proposal.

The monument is a 75-year-old marble structure inscribed with the names of 188 Royal Oak veterans who died in foreign wars.

After protests, petition gathering and legal challenges, an Oakland County Circuit Court judge ruled this summer the measure should appear on the ballot. The decision, which was challenged by the city, was upheld by the state Court of Appeals.

City officials have argued the relocation was needed after a two-year public engagement effort involving surveys, town hall meetings and input from more than 1,000 residents and stakeholders, including veterans. But opponents point to a 2007 city ordinance that promised protection of the memorial from development by dedicating land in what has become the ambitious planned Centennial Commons.

Residents Victoria Morgan, 60, and her husband Dean, 52, declined to disclose their votes for mayor, but Dean Morgan said: “I don’t really get the whole conflict about the memorial."

Likewise, 32-year-old Sean Stemas was mystified about its importance. He voted for the incumbents, he said, and “it’s not important to me whether they move it or don’t.”

To John Cerne, however, the memorial was vital. “I know Tom Roth supported the veterans,” he said, “and I felt like if it’s important to the veterans, I’m big on that.”

Cerne, 52, who works in advertising sales, has lived in Royal Oak for 22 years. While he didn’t quote the adage that all politics is local, he essentially expressed it.

“As long as they continue with leaf pickup and the police come if I need them,” he said, “I’m happy.”

As for Roth, he was happy his first campaign was almost over.

He expected to know by midnight whether he had won or lost. His plans for Wednesday were the same either way:

“I have to work.”

And while some voters said Tuesday they didn't understand what the War Memorial fuss was all about, it didn't change the fact that it has generated a lot of heat in the city.

"This is the most divisive campaign that I have ever seen in Royal Oak, people are really for the veterans but split up on the Veterans Memorial issue," said Jean Chamberlain, a resident of 50 years in the city. "Everything is partisan politics. I know things change but I don't like what they have done to the downtown area. You can't park by your favorite stores. I think we have lost much of our small-town charm.

"I would really like to see some new faces on the City Commission," she said. "It's good to have fresh blood, new ideas involved. Citizen government wasn't designed to be an appointment for life."

Pleasant Ridge OKs millage

Voters in Pleasant Ridge narrowly approved a 3.5-mill property tax increase aimed at replacing lead water service lines in the Oakland County community to meet a statewide requirement for getting rid of lead pipes, with 668 yes votes to 610 no votes.

City officials this summer raised water rates to start paying for the infrastructure improvements but argued the millage plan would be a better, more stable way to pay for the repairs to the city's water system. 

An opposition group called Equity PR has argued a fairer approach would be to impose a flat tax of more than $500 to each household instead of basing the tax on the assessed value of each home.

Pleasant Ridge also elected Bret Scott as the first Black mayor in the city's 94-year history. Scott, who ran unopposed, has been a city commissioner since 2014 in the predominantly White community of 2,627 residents. He will replace Kurt Metzger, who chose not to run for re-election.

mmartindale@detroitnews.com

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Staff Writers Kalea Hall and Neal Rubin contributed.