Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Dilgard edges Weisberg by 18 votes; Rinschler, McDaniel, Moore win other seats

George Dilgard edged out Shelli Weisberg by 18 votes to win election to the Birmingham City Commission Tuesday. Gordon Rinschler was elected to his first term on the commission, and incumbents Tom McDaniel and Scott Moore easily won re-election.

Official results of the voting can be downloaded from the city's website here.

Chris Conti and Robert Lawrence were elected to the school board, and Ann Conigliaro, David Underdown and Michael Earl were elected to the Library Board.

Seth Chafetz lost his bid for commission, and his fellow Library Board member, Joan Heinicke, lost her bid for re-election to the Library Board.

Voter turnout was 25.74 percent, with 3,911 of 15,196 registered voters casting ballots.

The next City Commission, to be seated at the commission's next meeting later this month, will have just one woman, Rackeline Hoff. Commissioners Julie Plotnik and Dianne McKeon did not seek re-election.

Weisberg, who gave up her seat on the Birmingham school board to run for commission, was the Democratic candidate for state representative in 2003 and is employed as legislative director for the Michigan ACLU. Dilgard, a financial analyst, is in his second term on the Birmingham Planning Board.

Vote totals for City Commission were as follows:

McDaniel: 2669
Moore: 2663
Rinschler: 2025
Dilgard: 1929
Weisberg: 1911
Chafetz: 1723