Monroe election:Mayor to face Zimmerman
Council races will be Frye vs. Williams, Fredrickson vs. Cudaback

BY POLLY KEARY, EDITOR

The primary election Tuesday had some predictable results — Monroe Mayor Donnetta Walser will advance to the finals — and some surprises, such as front-runner status for Todd Frederickson who dropped out of a in a four-way council for health reasons weeks ago. Here are the outcomes for Monroe, and inside this issue are the results of the race for county council.

	Robert Zimmerman

Donnetta Walser

Monroe Mayor

In the first day of counting, Mitch Ruth appeared to be the city councilman who would take on the mayor in November. But as more votes were counted during the week, former city council member Robert Zimmerman pulled ahead of Ruth in the count.

As of Sunday, Zimmerman held 31.97% of the vote, Mitch Ruth had 29.93% of the vote and Donnetta Walser, the current mayor, had 37.21% of the vote.

“The outcome did not totally surprise me,” said Walser Sunday. “I have learned to take nothing for granted. What did surprise me is how close it was until the last count. I have to believe that a lot of people waited until the last minute to vote.”

Some of Zimmerman’s success may be due to support from his church, opined Walser. “I do know that Robert’s pastor reminded the congregation the Sunday before the election to be sure to vote and mentioned that Robert was running for mayor as well as Tom Williams and Kurt Goering for council. I know this made a difference, but how much is hard to say.”

Walser will change little about her campaign strategy in coming weeks, she said. “I spent this weekend meeting with some of my campaign people to plan our strategy,” she said. “Much of it will stay the same, but we have altered our approach. It will be reassuring to get the final results.”

Neither Ruth or Zimmerman responded to invitations to comment for this story.

Results as of Sunday were:
Donnetta Walser 37.21% (710 votes),
Robert Zimmerman 31.97% (610 votes),
and Mitch Ruth 29.93% (571 votes).
There were 17 votes for write in candidates. In all, 1908 votes were cast.

Council Position 2

In late June, city council candidate Todd Fredrickson decided to drop out of the race for council position 2, as the melanoma he has been fighting had taken a turn for the worse. However, it was too late to formally drop out of the race. So he just figured he wouldn’t campaign at all.

To his surprise, he won in the primary anyway, coming in with more votes than anyone else.
With recent good news from his doctor, and the unsought support from voters, he has decided to campaign after all.

“Having not talked to anyone or put signs out, etc., I am pleasantly surprised by the results so far,” he said. “The elections manager told someone that since I have not officially pulled my name from the campaign with them that I could still compete for the position. So far the numbers look good. Those numbers, along with the great results from my last exam, is a good sign, in my opinion. I think I’ll follow my gut back into the race.”

He will run against Patsy Cudaback, director of the Monroe YMCA.

The two advanced past Bridgette Tuttle, a para-educator, and Paul Loots, a planning commissioner. Loots said he enjoyed running and will stay on the planning commission. “I think it turned out the way it did for me because I did not do a good enough job letting the voters know more about me and where I stand on the issues,” he said. “I enjoyed meeting people and answering emails. All in all, it was a very positive experience. I will continue to serve on the planning commission as we tackle issues like affordable housing, implementing the downtown master plan and other planning/development issues.”

Tuttle, who moved to Monroe eight years ago, said she perhaps wasn’t well known enough yet to get to the finals. “I think being a newcomer to the arena of Monroe politics is definitely a factor, and a lot of the people with whom I am connected are not able to vote because they live in the areas outside of the city limits,” she said. “I am excited about the votes I got and truly thankful to the people who supported me. I think it was my civic responsibility to make myself available and I am glad that I tried. The outcome was always up to God and he clearly has other plans for me this year.”

She, too, said she would look for ways to stay involved in the city.“I will continue to serve wherever opportunity presents itself and will be supporting the campaigns of Robert Zimmerman, Tom Williams, and Kurt Goering,” she said. “I’ll see where my life is two years from now and maybe I’ll try again. Committees, boards, educational positions, and opportunities for servant leadership are everywhere! This year I have PTA, truancy board, continuing to grow our small business, church activities, soccer mom responsibilities, and my work with a local private school to look forward to.”

Patsy Cudaback didn’t respond to an invitation to comment.

The results as of Sunday were:
Todd Fredrickson 33.74% (610 votes),
Patsy Cudaback, 26.11% (472 votes),
Bridgette Tuttle 19.75% (357 votes)
and Paul Loots 18.03% (326 votes).
There were 43 votes for write candidates and 1,808 votes in all.

Council Position #3

Former council member Jeff Frye and business owner Tom Williams ran neck-and-neck into the top two to go to the final election in November, with corrections officer Travis Brown in third place.

Frye said he was surprised by the outcome of the other council race, but not by his. Next, he said, he plans to ask voters for input. I plan to hit the streets with questions,” he said. “Questions like ‘What is important to you?’ ‘What would you change if you were a council member?’ and ‘What do you expect from a council member?’ I have always believed that we work for the citizens and it is important to know what they expect, not just what you think they want.”

He also said he will emphasize his experience. “I will also be reminding people that I know the job of council member, having served six years in that capacity already,” he said. “I will discuss my plans for funding parks and recreation programs through existing funding sources, I will talk about utility fees and how we might have to increase them to maintain existing levels of service but not get behind in technology, efficiency, and infrastructure.”

He is looking forward to the rest of the race, he said. “I am looking forward to having face-to-face debates on actual issues with both my opponent, and the other candidates,” said Frye.

Williams was grateful for the support he received, he said. “Since this is my first time running for an elected office I’m very pleased with making it to the November election,” he said. “It’s a very humbling experience to have people vote for me and I’m very grateful for all the support I’ve received. I love this city and I want it to succeed and I’m happy to have been given the chance to help with that.”

Williams said he thought Brown’s youth worked against him. (Brown is 25). “I’m not a political strategist but if I had to speculate on why the race turned out the way it did, I’d say that Jeff had name recognition from his time on city council, parks, and planning, and I bring a lot of years of executive experience and a proven track record of business success,” he said. “Travis was the youngest and I believe his lack of experience cost him votes.”

Williams added that he enjoyed getting to know Brown. “I will say that during the primary process I gained a great deal of respect for Travis Brown,” he said. “It took me until I was 39 to run for office and he did itat age 25. His heart’s in the right place and I believe he would have put in the work that’s required. I hope he sticks with it and tries again for either city council or one of the various other positions. With so many people not getting involved, I felt Travis was a breath of fresh air and I really respect him for that.” He said he is taking a few days to relax, then will direct his attention to the November election.

Brown also thought that campaign finances might have played too big a role, and that it hurt him. “The primaries obviously went a way I wasn’t intending, however it’s up to the people and they made their decision,” he said. “ I just have a problem with spending $20,000 to campaign for a position that pays maybe $4,000 a year.”

He will consider running in the future, he said.“From here I will be getting involved in more organizations around town and try to make a difference for now without being on council,” he said. “In the future we will see. Maybe I’ll try again in two years.”

The final result as of Sunday was:
Jeff Frye 42.61% (758 votes),
Tom Williams 42.10% (749 votes),
and Travis Brown 13.55% (241 votes).
There were 31 votes for write-in candidates, with 1,779 votes in all.

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