By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — Residents in Three Rivers and the Colon area will have a say in the future of their communities in the Tuesday, Aug. 8 election.
A primary election will be held in the City of Three Rivers for the position of mayor, while in Colon Township and Leonidas Township, Colon Community Schools will be seeking an operating millage renewal on the August ballot.
Election locations are in the following places in St. Joseph County:
- City of Three Rivers: Riverside Church, 207 E. Michigan Ave.
- Colon Township: Township Hall, 132 N. Blackstone Ave.
- Leonidas Township: Township Hall, 30970 King Rd.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, and absentee ballots will be accepted at secure drop boxes or your local clerk’s office until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
The following is a preview of both items on the ballot.
Three Rivers Mayoral Primary
In Three Rivers, three names will be on the ballot for mayor, with the top two vote-getters facing off in the November general election for the non-partisan seat. Competing for the seat are incumbent Tom Lowry, who is seeking a 13th term as mayor, and challengers Vernis Mims and Natelege Zaritz. Voters will be selecting one of these candidates to vote for.
Lowry, the owner of Lowry’s Books and More, has been mayor of the city for 26 non-consecutive years dating back to the mid-1990s, which included a hiatus between 2007 and 2011, when he lost to Al Balog in 2007 and declined to run again in 2009. In what could be the most competitive race for mayor in recent memory, Lowry said he’s proud of the accomplishments he’s been a part of as mayor and believes he is still the best person for the job.
“I feel like I’m part of a team that’s gotten a lot of good things done. We’ve gotten a lot of projects completed, a lot of long-range planning has been completed, and I’ve been part of a group that’s made that happen,” Lowry said in an interview in late June. “I can offer experience, I can offer stability, I can offer knowledge and know far more about so many city issues than I ever thought possible.”
Mims, a tutor at Glen Oaks Community College and a substitute teacher who is currently on the city’s Housing Development Corporation board, said he is running on a few ideas in his platform, including wanting to bring more trade programs to people in the city through grants, introducing community policing, and putting more of an emphasis on fixing the city’s streets and finding alternative ways to fund the necessary lead water line replacement in the city.
“I’m the best candidate because I bring a new flavor to the position of mayor, I bring a new thinking to the position. I bring not just a new thought process, but also an old thought process that can migrate into any situation that is thrown my way, because that’s what I’m great at,” Mims said in a July interview. “I’m very solution-based and a problem solver, and that’s what I’m planning on bringing to Three Rivers, solving some of the problems the people feel like they’ve had in this town for a long time.”
For Zaritz, a stay-at-home mom with real estate experience who is currently on the city’s planning commission, her platform includes getting kids more involved in the city and giving them more things to do, focusing on the city’s infrastructure with roads and water, and addressing public safety funding to give the fire department and police department more funding.
“I know how to listen to people, and for me, ultimately people are going to make a good decision. I know I’m the best candidate because I’m working for my own children,” Zaritz said in a July interview. “It’s not for me, not for prestige or any other reason that I want to serve my community as opposed to just sitting back and observing things happen. I know I’m going to get in there and help a lot of the youth and people who might be a little bit jaded and feel like they’re on the margins, and I want to bring those people in. I want to light a fire under the 7,000-plus people that live here and show them they have the power to shape their future.”
Colon Community Schools Operating Millage Renewal
Voters in the Colon Community Schools district, including Colon Township, Leonidas Township, Burr Oak Township, and Nottawa Township, as well as Matteson and Sherwood townships in Branch County and Wakeshma Township in Kalamazoo County, will vote on whether to renew the school district’s 18.561 mill operating millage.
The district’s millage is required for the school district to be able to receive its revenue per pupil foundation allowance from the state, and would help the district maintain its current levels of programs, services and staffing.
The millage renewal would be for a period of 10 years, from 2024 to 2033, and would impact only industrial, commercial, second homes, and some agricultural properties. The renewal would not include a family’s primary residence tax-wise. It is not a new tax on property owners.
The 18.561 mills rate is equivalent to just over $18.56 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation on the amount of taxes which can be assessed on applicable properties. It is expected to generate approximately $1,357,054 in 2024, around 16 percent of its annual budget.
Colon Community Schools Superintendent Rachel Kowalski said in an interview Wednesday that this particular millage is an important one for the district.
“If this millage did not pass, we would not be able to maintain the current level of services to our students and families,” Kowalski said. “Our enrollment has gone up, we gained about 20 students last year. Additionally, we’re up about 13 students this summer. The expansion of academic opportunities have been substantial and robust in the last year; a lot of our secondary school students have had opportunities they’ve never had before, like AP classes and a variety of new electives. For those reasons, we’ve been able to retain families and recruit new families.”
The last millage renewal for the school district passed easily in November 2013, with 70.62 percent of the vote in St. Joseph County.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@threeriversnews.com.
To paraphrase “Anybody but Lowry”.