Manchester’s school bond, fire millage renewal, and city charter proposals all pass!
There was no wait for Manchester Township voters Tuesday evening to vote in person.
by Marsha Chartrand and Sara Swanson
The Village of Manchester is no more as residents voted on Tuesday in an off-year election to become Michigan’s newest city! With a 35.88% turnout, 680 voters weighed in on cityhood. When all of the votes were counted, 62.65% voted yes and 37.35% voted no.
Village voters also selected their new City Council, which had seven candidates running for six available seats. In the end, five of the current Village Council members will return to serve as City Council Members and one Village Council Member lost their place to a newcomer. Sue LaRocque, who was not previously on Village Council, received the most votes, 16.39%; followed closely by Marsha Chartrand with 16.17%, Patrick DuRussel with 15.59%, Cynthia Dresch with 14.67%, Steven Harvey with 13.65%, and Martin Way with 13.14%. LaRocque, Chartrand, and DuRussel will serve four-year terms. Dresch, Harvey, and Way will serve two-year terms. Village Council Member Amelia Woods received the fewest votes with 9.81%.
Current Village President Pat Vailliencourt ran unopposed and will now serve as the City of Manchester’s first mayor.
Vailliencourt, who put years of work into the process of becoming a city, stated, “As the needs of the Village and the Township became more diverse, the Village Council had a responsibility to provide the voters an opportunity to decide how they want to be governed. Manchester now has a primary form of government and therefore more control over its future. Congratulations to those elected to serve on our first City Council.
“I want to assure those that were concerned with the impact of this change, we are still the same Manchester,” she added. “It’s not our legal identity that makes us who we are, it’s our quality of life, it’s our people. I want to thank those that spent countless hours researching, documenting, and making sure the facts were available to our residents to enable them to make an informed decision.”
Village Manager Michael Sessions, who was hired in 2022, partway through the cityhood process, will now become City Manager. He stated, “I’m grateful for the voters passing the City Charter. This move will allow us to be able to put all of our services under one roof [so it] is very beneficial for the community, very beneficial for growth, and very beneficial for the long term of moving forward.”
There was more than just becoming a city on the ballot.
Only Village residents could vote on cityhood, the city council, and mayor; however, both the Village and Manchester Township’s rural residents voted on Manchester Township Fire Protection Services Millage Renewal, which passed 77.72% to 22.28%. The same millage renewal failed to pass last November by 66 votes but passed by an impressive 739 votes this time around.
Village residents voted on the millage, as they were part of Manchester Township on Tuesday; as they are no longer part of Manchester Township, the millage will not apply to them. The new city has been negotiating a contract with the Township for fire service, just as Sharon, Freedom, and Bridgewater Townships already have. All officials involved have stated that even during the period while the contract is being worked out, fire service will continue as usual for city residents.
The Manchester Community Schools had the closest vote of the day on their bond proposal. It passed by 67 votes with a total of 1,064 yes votes and 997 no votes. The bond proposal failed in Bridgewater Township, Freedom Township, Sharon Township, and among the few Jackson County voters in the school district, but passed by enough votes in Manchester Township to secure a win on the bond.
Superintendent Dr. Brad Bezeau stated, “Certainly unofficial, but a huge win tonight for the students and community of Manchester! With the unbelievable support from our families and community, we can now build great things in Manchester for our kids, and ensure the future and stability of our great school district. The faith and trust that the voters placed in the school district is humbling and does not go unrecognized. We will continue to be good stewards and continue to build something that we can all be proud of and something that will serve as a magnet and draw throughout the area and region, truly signaling to everyone that Manchester is the place to be!” He added, “A huge thank you to the voters of the Manchester Community Schools and the investment that you have made in your kids and your community! The best is yet to come!”
The Village of Manchester, which had the most issues at stake on the ballot, had the highest turnout of the Manchester area with 35.88%. The rural part of Manchester Township, which had two proposals on the ballot, had 28.11% turnout. Of the three townships with only the school bond proposal on the ballot, Bridgewater Township had 31.72% turnout, Sharon Township had 28.92% turnout, and Freedom Township had 25.41% turnout.
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