Politics & Government

Utica Elects 3 New Council Members; Mayor Unopposed

Utica has three new council members and Mayor Jacqueline Noonan says she will retire at end of two year unopposed term.

Utica residents elected three new council members Tuesday and re-elected Mayor Jacqueline Noonan, who ran unopposed.

Five people, including one incumbent, ran for three vacant council seats. Faith Terenzi, Barb Montag and Chuck Cuddington were elected.

Terenzi was the top vote getter with 454 votes; Montag came in second with 385; and Cuddington came in third with 354.

Find out what's happening in Shelby-Uticawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Incumbent Jeffrey Carter Sr., who was appointed to council a year ago to replace councilman Jerry Baker after he resigned, was not re-elected.

Candiate Bernard Hurchulla had the least votes with 269.

Find out what's happening in Shelby-Uticawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Somebody has to be last. I guess it was me. That’s the way it is—the way it goes,” said Hurchulla. “I think everyone did a fine job and everything will continue to go well with the city.”

Terenzi told Patch she believes her campaign strategy of pounding the pavement and talking to residents paid off.

“I went out every single day between three and five and did one city block at a time, and I walked almost the entire city meeting and talking to people,” she said.

Montag, who has campaigned twice and lost, said the third time was a charm.

“I’ve done it twice so I knew the game. One, I think my name was out there and two, it was a learning curve for me. There are a lot of steps to become successfully elected,” said Montag.

The other two vacant council seats were created with the retirement of council members Mary Figurski and Joyce Kraft.

All three new council members will serve a four-year term that will begin in January 2012.

Utica City Council Clerk Cathy McGrail said the council members do get a small fee for serving the city. Each council member is paid $63 for regular meetings, which are held once a month, and $56 for any special meetings.

Voter turnout was only slightly lower in Utica, with 22.1 percent of voters casting ballots. Out of 3,404 registered voters in Utica, only 753 turned out.

Mayor Noonan Approaching 25 Years

Mayor Noonan said she will be retiring after this two-year term—which begins in January—expires.

“It will be my last election—absolutely,” said Noonan.

Out of 13 elections for mayor this is the fifth time Noonan ran unopposed.

In January, Noonan will have served Utica as mayor for a quarter of a century.

MISD Special Education Millage Does Not Pass

By just 22 votes, Utica residents voted against a 1.2-mill property tax proposal for for Macomb Intermediate Schools.

Had the proposal passed, its proceeds would have funded special education programs in Macomb County's 21 school districts and the Macomb Intermediate School District through 2030.

 

Candidate Precinct 1 Precinct 2 Precinct 3 Total Mayor




Noonan, Jacqueline 87 309 182 578




Council



Carter, Jeffrey 47 173 96 316 Cuddington, Charles 75 189 90 354 Hurchalla, Bernard 56 142 71 269 Montag, Barbara 54 180 151 385 Terenzi, Faith 79 254 121 454









Total Voted 130 392 231 753 Total Registered 755 1251 1398 3404 Percent voted 17.22% 31.33% 16.52% 22.12%




MISD/yes 67 135 136 338 MISD/no 56 229 75 360


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here