ALAMO TOWNSHIP, MI — While many Alamo Township citizens have been preparing to greet their new township supervisor since the night of the Nov. 4 election, the man elected to the seat said he wasn't ready to savor the victory before taking office Monday.
"I was very excited when the results came through, but I was very nervous because it was so close and still unofficial," said Tony Hyet, the man voters chose to replace former Republican Alamo Township Supervisor Lou Conti in a recall election. "I didn't want to say I had won until I knew for a fact."
Hyet, a 41-year-old chemist who manages a lab at a compounding pharmacy, learned his victory was official late last week after the Kalamazoo County Board of Canvassers verified that he captured 52 percent of the vote en route to defeating Conti, who was in the midst of his first term after being elected in 2012.
Incumbent Republican township trustee Dawn Potter-Williams, who was also facing a recall, was defeated by challenger John Kennedy, a 73-year-old farmer and operating engineer who was making his first bid for public office.
Recall language against Conti contended the former supervisor made a lewd gesture toward a woman after a township meeting last year. A Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office investigation later cleared Conti of wrongdoing.
Former Alamo Township Supervisor Lou Conti
But Conti said he believes what ultimately led to his recall was a road assessment program approved last spring that charged most property-owning residents $60 per year for up to seven years with the goal of generating revenue to repair the township's nine miles of junk roads. Conti said the township was able to repair about two miles of those roads during the summer, something he said he remains proud of regardless of whether the assessment is maintained by the new regime.
"That's the challenge of the new group: to meet the needs of the township as far as putting its infrastructure back in place," Conti said.
The former supervisor also said he hopes the new township board maintains the transparency he helped usher in during his term by creating a township website that contained minutes from meetings and provided a directory of local businesses.
Hyet, who along with Kennedy ran as an independent, said he has no plans to alter the road assessment program at this point and said he would only do so if citizens expressed a desire for it to be eliminated or overhauled.
In fact, having never held or run for public office prior to this year, Hyet said he hopes he can seek advice from Conti and former township supervisor Bob Vlietstra, who served as township supervisor from 2001-2012.
"I went to college and I've done this and that, but nothing prepares you for a job like this," Hyet said with a chuckle. "I never claimed to know it all. There's a lot of good people in this community and I'm going to lean on them first."
While he may need pointers on the finer points of holding office, Hyet said the primary reason he was elected is to erase the division amongst community members that has sprung up during the past two years, a task he is confident he can accomplish.
"My number one goal is to take my time and get to know people and do a lot of listening," Hyet said. "We've been a fractured community for a while and I hope I can be the mediator that brings us all back together."
Alex Mitchell covers county government and taxes for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Email him at amitche5@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.