MARQUETTE - All three Ishpeming City Council candidates targeted in a special recall election Tuesday will remain in office, while three of four funding proposals in Forsyth Township were defeated by voters.
Claudia Demarest, Elaine Racine and Mike Tall were recall targets of the Ishpeming Citizens for Bjorne Justice Committee, for their decision to not vote in favor of accepting a retirement credit transfer from Marquette County for former Ishpeming Police Chief Jim Bjorne.
Voters decided handily against recalling the three elected officials from office.
The vote for Demarest was 442 in favor of recall, 620 votes no. Racine received 416 votes for recall and 645 against. Tall had 413 votes approving his recall and 648 against, according to results from the Marquette County Clerks office.
Meanwhile, millage and bonding requests in Forsyth Township for a new library and increased funding for police officers were defeated in Tuesdays election, while a vote to renew police millage was passed.
There were four ballot initiatives before voters; two for the library and two for the township police department. A library bond proposal which sought to borrow a total of $1.5 million to be paid back over 30 years for construction of a new Forsyth Township Library in Gwinn was defeated by a vote of 724-223. A separate ballot proposal, seeking a half mill for 30 years, to fund operations of the library was also defeated. The vote was 695-257.
There were two millage ballot proposals for the Forsyth Township Police Department. One request was for a renewal millage for one mill for six years. In 2009, voters approved a millage for one mill, which provided the township with two additional officers and intermittent, 24-hour coverage, police said. The millage request would renew that funding. That request was approved by a vote of
594 yes votes to 355 no votes.
The second millage proposal was for an additional police operations one mill for six years request. That funding was to be used to hire new officers. The department currently has five full-time officers, including the police chief and two part-time officers, according to a police information sheet on the millage.
That measure was defeated by a vote of 498 no votes to 453 yes votes.
John Pepin can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. His email address is