Farmington voters returned three incumbents to office November 5, in a 5-way race with an interesting twist.
Joe LaRussa, an automotive engineer who finished third two years ago in his first council race, came out on top with a little over 25 percent of the vote. He and Sara Bowman (23%), a legal operations manager, won 4-year terms, while current mayor Steven Schneemann, an architect, took the 2-year term with 21 percent.
Newcomers Sarah Davies Sarah Davies (15.71%) and Geof Perrot (14.74%) rounded out the field.
LaRussa said he was “mildly surprised” by the result.
“I never dreamed I’d be the number one vote-getter with a sitting mayor and mayor pro tem on the ballot,” he said. “I’ve always said I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can, and I think voters in Farmington reward hard work.”
LaRussa said he’s looking forward to working on the city’s big projects and his own big ideas for Farmington’s future and “crafting a plan to realize it.”
Bowman, who gathered with supporters at 1Up Arcade in downtown Farmington, said the city has many development opportunities “on the cusp”, from the Farmington Road streetscape, to a development that could link downtown with Shiawassee Park.
“The Maxfield Training Center is an unbelievable opportunity,” she said. “We are primed to make that happen.”
With last year’s voter-approved millage, Bowman added, she’d like to explore development opportunities outside of downtown and “incentivize businesses up and down Grand River.”
Schneemann, the city’s current mayor, thanked his supporters in an election night social media post: “I’m looking forward to continuing to work with council to make Farmington better every day!”
