GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Rosalynn Bliss won’t be the only name on the Grand Rapids mayoral ballot in 2019.
Mayor Bliss, seeking her second four-year term, will have a challenger in Daniel Schutte, a local pastor who lives in the city’s First Ward. Voters will select their mayor for 2020-23 during the Nov. 5 general election.
The window for candidates filing to run for office in Grand Rapids’ 2019 local elections closed at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 23.
“I am proud of all that we have accomplished since 2015," Bliss said in a press release announcing her campaign. "I am proud of our city and of how our progress represents contributions from citizens from across Grand Rapids.
“We have moved the needle in a positive direction for many, but there is still a lot of work to do to make sure that more residents share in the success of our city and region.”
Schutte, 63, has spent almost 40 years as a pastor in Grand Rapids through The Inner City Church Planting Mission. The organization has opened two churches in Grand Rapids -- Division Street Fellowship (1985) and Butterworth Street Fellowship (1990) -- and more than 30 others internationally, according to the mission’s website.
In November 2018, Schutte ran for the 75th District of the Michigan House of Representatives as a Republican candidate against Rep. David LaGrand, D-Grand Rapids. LaGrand won re-election with 77.7 percent of the vote.
The push behind Schutte’s run for mayor is two-fold.
“I know the issues in Grand Rapids and I firmly believe Jesus Christ is the answer to all of them and if he would be more acknowledged and followed, especially through the principles in his holy scriptures, it won’t be a utopia but it would be much better.
“Secondly, I want to speak for the unborn. I want to proclaim that these precious, beautiful unborn children are just as much citizens of Grand Rapids as their mothers who live here.”
In 2015, Bliss beat out three challengers to become the city’s first female mayor. She succeeded former Mayor George Heartwell, who held the position for 12 years before term limits were imposed.
As mayor, her salary in 2019 is $42,471.
The rest of the commission
Voters in two of Grand Rapids’ three wards will have a decision to make this fall with multiple candidates running to represent the First Ward and Second Ward. In the Third Ward, Commissioner Nathaniel Moody will run unopposed to keep the seat he was appointed to in July 2018 following the resignation of former commissioner David Allen.
The First Ward race will be between Commissioner Jon O’Connor and challenger Allison Lutz. Voters will cast their vote in the Nov. 5 general election.
O’Connor, 37, was elected to his current seat in 2015. He’s a co-founder and co-owner of Long Road Distillers, and previously served one term on the Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education.
Lutz, 22, is a customer service representative at a local marketing agency who attended Grand Rapids Community College and Grand Valley State University, according to her Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
In the Second Ward, Commissioner Ruth Kelly is term-limited. She’ll be succeeded by one of three newcomers -- Wendy Falb, Milinda Ysasi, or Michael Farage.
Falb, 53, is the executive director of the Literacy Center of West Michigan. She previously spent 10 years on the GRPS Board of Education, and the city’s Downtown Development Authority board.
Ysasi, 39, is the co-founder of the Latina Network of West Michigan and the executive director of the non-profit business collaborative, The Source. She serves as the professional development facilitator for the Ferris State University Latino Talent Initiative, and is a member of the city’s public safety committee.
Farage, 53, ran for a Second Ward seat in 2017 and finished third behind Commissioner Joe Jones and runner-up Tami VandenBerg. He also ran an unsuccessful campaign for the GRPS Board of Education in 2016.
The three candidates for the Second Ward will be on the ballot during the Aug. 6 primary election. If one candidate receives at least 50 percent of the votes, they’ll win the seat without a November run-off. Otherwise, the top two candidates will advance to the Nov. 5 ballot.
Lastly, voters will have to narrow the pool of candidates for the Grand Rapids Public Library Board of Commissioners to a top six of seven candidates in August. Of that group, three commissioners will be elected to six-year terms in November.
Candidates for the full-term library commissioner seats are William Baldridge (active president), Deborah Bose, Kelly Boston, Kathryn Dilley, Jonathan Helder, Jes Kramer and M. Jade VanderVelde (active).
Kent Sparks is the lone candidate running for one partial term seat on the library commission. He is currently the board’s vice president and secretary.
