HIGHLIGHTS + OTTAWA COUNTY
November 7, 2023 election highlights—City positions, school bonds, Board of Light and Power, and Jamestown public library
Published November 9, 2023
Written by Adams
Photography by Simply American
27% of Ottawa County residents made their voices heard in the November 7, 2023 election.
Citizens of Coopersville, Ferrysburg, Grand Haven, Holland, Hudsonville, Jamestown, and Zeeland made their way to the polls on Tuesday to exercise their right to vote.
Elections across Ottawa County
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Up For Grabs
City of Coopersville
Three City Council seats
City of Ferrysburg
Mayor
Three City Council seats
City of Grand Haven
Mayor
Two City Council seats
Two Board of Light & Power (BLP) positions
Two school bond proposals
One charter amendment proposal
City of Holland
Mayor
Four City Council seats (At Large, 2nd Ward, 4th Ward, and 6th Ward)
City of Hudsonville
Mayor
Three City Commissioners (1st Ward, 2nd Ward, and 3rd Ward)
Jamestown Charter Township
Library millage
City of Zeeland
Mayor
Three City Council seats
West Ottawa Public Schools
One school bond proposal
Election Results—Grand Haven, Holland, Jamestown
Grand Haven
Controversy over the school bond proposals and the abolishing of the BLP had Grand Haven residents concerned.
Two Grand Haven Public School bond proposals
Failed. In May of 2023, Grand Haven had another bond fail by approximately 500 votes.
The Charter Amendment to abolish the Board of Light and Power
Failed, with 70.3% voting against the amendment.
Mayor
Bob Monetza won the two-year mayor seat against Andrea Hendricks, 60.9% to Hendricks 39.1%.
Proposal 1, building a new middle school at the price of $118.3 million
Voted down by 55.8%.
Proposal 2, asking for $28.7 million for new athletic complex and upgrades to the arts and music department
Failed at the ballot box with 53.5% voting against.
Holland
Holland had a full slate of candidates on election day.
Mayor
Nathan Bocks was re-elected with 67.5% of the vote after running against Larry Shattuck.
At Large, Holland City Council
Micheal Schultheis won against Ryan Spencer.
2nd Ward, Holland City Council
Incumbent Lyn Raymond won against write-in candidate Orlando Estrada.
4th Ward, Holland City Council
Kim Rowan won against Mike Short.
6th Ward, Holland City Council
Devin Shea won against Benjamin Attema.
Jamestown
Patmos Library in Jamestown was trying for the third time to renew the operating millage. The millage already failed twice due to opposition over sexually explicit books that were available for children. The book controversy led to a three-member change on the library board in 2022.
Patmos Library millage
This time the millage passed—62.8% to 37.2%. New conservative board members elected in 2022 asked the community to approve the millage and explained they were working hard to change the direction of the library.
Other Election Results
City of Coopersville
• Re-elected to the City Council were Renee Gavin and Tim Degeus
• Elected to the City Council was Daniel Bowman
City of Ferrysburg
As of this writing, there are no official results due to an error in all petitions leading to all candidates needing to be write-in candidates.
• Unofficial results have Rich Carlson beating out Rebecca Hopp for Mayor
• Unofficially re-elected to the City Council were Willam Montgomery and Jerry Sias, with Michael DeWitt taking the last open seat
City of Hudsonville
• Re-elected for Mayor was Mark Northrup, who ran unopposed
• Re-elected to the City Council were Toen DeVree, David Nyitray and Philip Leerar—all ran unopposed
City of Zeeland
• Re-elected for Mayor was Kevin Klynstra, who ran unopposed
• Re-elected to the City Council were Sally Gruppen, Phung Lam and Mary Beth Timmer—all ran unopposed
West Ottawa Public Schools
A school bond for $237 million for improvements passed with 56.2% of the vote.
Exercising the right to vote is one of the best ways to have voices heard.
Several seats were unopposed this election. Having choices on the ballot provides the people with greater opportunity to compare policy positions and make informed decisions about their elected leaders.
We The People have spoken into this election.
Now onto the next.
Elections
Elections across Ottawa County
November 7, 2023
Locations
Coopersville
Ferrysburg
Grand Haven
Holland
Hudsonville
Jamesstown
Zeeland
