The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Candidates come forward
Long-brewing political showdown set for Democratic primary
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 22, 2008
A long-brewing political showdown for the leadership of Pittsfield Township is set for the Democratic primary in August after a slate of candidates announced last week its intent to challenge township incumbents.
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A political action committee calling itself Pittsfield Promise has assembled a slate of Democratic candidates for supervisor, clerk, treasurer and the four trustee seats.
Heading up the slate and running for supervisor is Washtenaw County Commissioner Mandy Grewal, who looks to unseat incumbent Supervisor James Walter.
Grewal said she was asked by "countless residents" to run for the office.
"I have come to the conclusion that it's simply time to bring positive change to this community and make it far more inclusive and responsive to township resident needs," she said in a press release.
Grewal, who is married to former county commissioner Robert Brackenbury, is giving up her seat as county commissioner for District 7 to run for township supervisor.
Joining Grewal on the slate to challenge incumbent Treasurer Christina Lirones is Patricia Scribner, a former chairwoman of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party.
Alan Israel, currently the chief of staff at the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office and a former mayor of Milan, is running for clerk against incumbent Feliziana Meyer.
Israel said he opposed a recall effort waged two years ago against Walter, Lirones and Meyer, but was dismayed and troubled to learn after the recall failed that the township officials had accepted campaign donations from developers,
The recall found initiative, in large part, from those opposed to the township's controversial approval of a new Wal-Mart on Michigan Avenue and State Road.
Trustee candidates Chol Yi, Tom Sherony, Stephanie Hunt and Gerald Krone, a former Saline school board member, are running against incumbent trustees Kenneth Brostrom, Gregory Connor and Andrea Urda-Thompson. Karen Zera, a township parks commissioner, is running for trustee with the incumbents.
Saline resident Kristin Judge, who was a prominent leader of Pittsfield Community First, a grassroots movement that looked to block the construction of the Wal-Mart on Michigan Avenue, is among four candidates looking to fill the county commissioner seat left open by Grewal.
Judge said she decided to run for the seat because many of the programs county commissioners are involved with center around protective initiatives for children and families, such as Head Start and an effort to end homelessness in the county in 10 years.
Her involvement with Pittsfield Community First sparked her interest in running for office, she said.
"It made me realize government can make a huge difference in people's lives," she said. "You can really make an impact, and I have the willingness and drive to serve my community."
Also running for the seat are Saline resident Larry Cox, and Ypsilanti residents Jeff Jordan and Sean Gray, the lone Republican.
Other challenges set to take place in November include Saline resident Frank Parkinson and Ann Arbor resident Tom Partridge vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Jessica Ping as county commissioner for District 3.
The county commissioner seat current held by Saline resident Wesley Prater is being challenged by Democratic candidates William Cullen Riney, and Rick Roe of Ypsilanti and the lone Republican candidate, Owen Diaz, the former mayor of Milan.
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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