Frederick, Vitale and Bertges win City Council election in St. Clair Shores

ST. CLAIR SHORES — On Nov. 7, St. Clair Shores voters elected Ronald Frederick, Chris Vitale and Linda Bertges to serve on the City Council for the next four years.

Frederick and Vitale are both incumbents. Bertges was elected to the seat being vacated by outgoing Councilman Peter Accica, who did not run for another term citing health issues and served at his last meeting on Oct. 16.

Six candidates vied for the three City Council seats in this year’s election. Mayor Kip Walby ran unopposed.

In the race for the three seats up for election this year, Frederick received the most votes with 6,744 (23.3%), followed by Vitale with 6,089 (21.0%) and Bertges with 5,323 (18.4%). Each will serve a four-year term.

Bryan Owens finished fourth with 4,745 votes (16.4%), followed by Kristine Crook with 3,620 (12.5%) and Jay Heck with 2,459 votes (8.5%).

Frederick said he is excited to work with Bertges, Vitale and the rest of the council again.

“I’m excited and humbled by the voters making me the top vote-getter,” Frederick said. “It says a lot about the direction of St. Clair Shores.”

Vitale said he feels very humbled.

“When you get told that people appreciate your work it’s very humbling,” Vitale said.

He also said this election was a tight race with good opponents and campaigns.

“This was no walk in the park,” Vitale said.

Bertges said her main goal is making sure that St. Clair Shores continues to be a great place to live, work and play.

“I love my city and I’m very excited to be elected and move the city forward,” Bertges said.