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Signs like these — outside the Neighborhood Club in Grosse Pointe City — directed voters where to cast their ballots on Election Day.
Photo by K. Michelle Moran
GROSSE POINTE PARK/SHORES/WOODS — Voters in Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe Shores and Grosse Pointe Woods had ballots largely featuring uncontested local races, with the exception being a contested council election in the Park.
With Park City Councilwoman Christine Gallagher not seeking reelection, the Park was slated to see at least one new person seated at the council table this fall. That new person will be Patrick Gleason, who was elected alongside incumbent City Council members Thomas Caulfield and Max Wiener; all will serve four-year terms. Caulfield was the top vote-getter among the council candidates. A fourth candidate, Olga Merametdjian, was unsuccessful in her first bid for elected office.
Gleason, 29, who has dual citizenship in America and Canada, was born at the former Cottage Hospital in Grosse Pointe Farms and has lived in the Park for the last 18 years. He was named to the Park’s Recreation Commission in May 2024 and has served as the commission’s secretary this year. He’s also treasurer of Friends of Patterson Playscape, the group founded to save and renovate the beloved playscape.
“I’m humbled and grateful,” Gleason said of being elected to the council.
A third-generation Grosse Pointer, Gleason said his mom met his dad while she was a lifeguard in the Park.
“What prompted me to run was knowing I could put my energy toward the community I love,” Gleason said. “I just care about the community and I just wanted to do what I can to keep it the great community it is.”
When he joined the Recreation Commission, Gleason said he started to volunteer for every city event.
“I wanted to lead by example,” Gleason said.
John Parnell Jr. will become the new municipal court judge in the Park, having been the only candidate running to replace longtime incumbent Municipal Court Judge Carl Jarboe, who wasn’t able to run again this year because of age restrictions. Parnell will serve a four-year term.
Mayor Michele Hodges was reelected to another two-year term in her uncontested bid. She was elected mayor for her first term in 2021 and reelected in 2023. Hodges previously served on the Park City Council, to which she was elected in 2019.
Shortly before the polls closed for the night at 8 p.m. Nov. 4, Park Precinct 5 Election Chair Nicole Hamborsky said voter turnout appeared to be better than expected and had been going well all day.
“I’d say it’s been pretty smooth,” Hamborsky said.
Other Park election officials echoed that sentiment.
“It started out kind of slow, but it’s been really busy (since) 4 o’clock,” said Philip Henke, an election official for Precinct 6.
For Grosse Pointe Woods voters, the only substantial question on the ballot was a charter amendment to change the title of the city administrator to city manager, which was approved by an overwhelming margin. Mayor Arthur Bryant and incumbent City Council members Victoria Granger, Todd McConaghy and James Motschall Jr. were all running unopposed. The council members were elected to four-year terms and the mayor was elected to a two-year term. Motschall was appointed by the council last year to serve out the remainder of City Councilman Thomas Vaughn’s term after Vaughn’s death in 2024.
Voter turnout in the Woods was 31.2%, with 4,464 of the city’s 14,307 registered voters participating in the election.
Grosse Pointe Shores residents faced an entirely uncontested race, with incumbent Municipal Court Judge Charles Berschback running unopposed, along with incumbent City Council members Sandra Cavataio and John Donovan Dakmak; all of them were reelected for four-year terms. City Councilman Robert Barrette didn’t seek reelection, but newcomer Scott Houghton ran to fill the vacancy. The Shores shares a municipal court judge with Grosse Pointe Farms.
Of the Shores’ 2,503 registered voters, 698 — or 27.89% — cast ballots in this election.
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