Morgan Hill
– Incumbent Mayor Dennis Kennedy handily won his bid for another
two-year term as mayor Tuesday night by more than 1,800 votes over
challenger and Councilman Greg Sellers.
At 12:15am Wednesday Kennedy had 5,979 votes and Sellers
4,118.
Morgan Hill – Incumbent Mayor Dennis Kennedy handily won his bid for another two-year term as mayor Tuesday night by more than 1,800 votes over challenger and Councilman Greg Sellers.
At 12:15am Wednesday Kennedy had 5,979 votes and Sellers 4,118.
In the race for two City Council seats, incumbent Larry Carr and longtime council watcher Mark Grzan were the top two vote getters in a field of five. Carr captured a commanding 5,241 votes and Grzan finished strong with 5,007.
Julia Starling was third with 1,963 votes, Kelly Bell Kubica was fourth with 1,887 votes and Allan Abrams was fifth with 1,683 votes.
Grzan will join Carr, Councilmen Steve Tate and Sellers on the council, along with Kennedy. Sellers will continue to serve the final two years of his four-year term.
The vote count will not be final for several days because of the huge number of absentee ballots the Registrar of Voters’ office still has to count, more than twice the normal number.
Kennedy, 66, was celebrating by cutting a cake for well-wishers at a party in Holiday Lake Estates.
“Now is the time to come together and move forward,” Kennedy said. “The next two years will be exciting – with the new library, senior, youth and sports centers, the courthouse and, of course, we will be celebrating our centennial. I am thoroughly honored at the vote.”
Sellers, 43, holding an election party at Rosy’s at the Beach, said he was waiting for results that were slow coming in.
“But however it turns out,” Sellers said, “I met so many new families while we walked precincts – 85 percent of them – it was a wonderful experience.”
While Kennedy is better known, both men have lived in the community for decades and have served in several civic capacities and had significant followings.
Kennedy served on the Planning Commission and was first elected to the council in 1994 and mayor in 1997. He is a retired engineer.
Sellers, whose campaign slogan was “It’s time for a change,” grew up in Morgan Hill, graduated from Live Oak High School and returned after college to head the Downtown Revitalization Program for several years in the early 1990s. He was elected to council in 1998 and reelected, unopposed, in 2002. Sellers has his own consulting business.
Sellers focused primarily on downtown, teetering on the brink of seeing a renaissance of shops, restaurants and entertainment venues or retrogressing into closed doors and a recession.
Kennedy’s slogan appeared to be “Steady as she goes,” promising more of his deliberate, patient progress.
Carr, 35, will start his second four-year council term on Dec. 1. He has lived in Morgan Hill most of his life and served a term on the school board before moving to the council in 2000. Carr is director of government relations for the Stanford Hospital and Clinics in Palo Alto. His focus, he said, will continue to be the economic health of the city, housing and education.
“It’s great to be part of this exciting election,” said Carr, at an election-night party at Rosy’s at the Beach. “I hope the numbers hold throughout the night. I’m humbled by the fact that the voters must think we’re doing a very good job and are interested in us continuing.”
Grzan, also at Rosy’s with his wife Colleen was cautious too.
“I just want to say I am honored and humbled,” Grzan said about possibly winning election to the council.
Grzan, 53, has lived in town for 10 years and is an administrative analyst for the City of Newark. Grzan is fiscally conservative, environmentally protective and believes the integrity of the general plan, on which he worked, should remain intact except under extraordinary circumstances.
Councilwoman Hedy Chang did not run for a third term.
