Five candidates run for two open seats on Belleville City Council

Five candidates are running for two, four-year seats open on the Belleville City Council. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Candidates are Kelly Bates, Tom Fielder, Gwen Hooks, Jesse Marcotte, and Jeff Vernon.
Kelly Bates, 342 Victorian Lane, is married to Thomas Bates and they have lived in the City of Belleville for three years. She is employed as occupation supervisor at the University of Michigan Health Center. She has taken some college classes.
Last November she was appointed to the Belleville Planning Commission.
Tom Fielder, 206 South Street, has lived in Belleville for all of his 72 years. He is single and a Belleville High School retired teacher. He is an incumbent seeking to retain his seat.
Fielder earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Michigan.
He was elected Belleville’s mayor in 1999 and to the Belleville City Council in 2013. He also was appointed to the Belleville Downtown Development Authority and served 2009-2013. He also was appointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission and has served on that commission since 1994.
Fielder also is active in the Belleville Area Historical Society, Belleville Central Business Community, and Wayne County Substance Use Disorder Board. Fielder also serves as a baseball-softball official.
Gwen Hooks, 207 Victorian Lane, has lived in the city for five years with her husband Mark Hooks and daughter Jocelyn Hooks. Hooks, 36, is a Health Research Science Specialist, with a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
This is her first bid for public office.
Jesse Marcotte, 53 Potter Drive, was appointed to a seat on the city council last November and is running to retain his seat. This is his first time on a ballot.
He was appointed to and served on the planning commission 2007-2014 and 2015-2016, about eight years total.
Marcotte, 34, has lived in the city for 12 years. He resides with his girlfriend Melly. He has worked for the Northville Township Fire Department for 15 years and is Battalion Chief of Training.
Marcotte graduated from Belleville High School in 2001 and earned a BAS in Public Safety Studies from Siena Heights University in 2006 and a master of science in Public Safety and Emergency Management from Eastern Michigan University in 2010.
Jeff Vernon, 48, of 111 South Street, is on a ballot for public office for the first time. He was appointed to the Belleville Parks and Recreation Commission.
He has lived in the city for two years and lists his occupation as “general labor.” He lists his education as “high school.”
Polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Both City of Belleville voting precincts are located at the Father Folta building behind St. Anthony Catholic Church on West Columbia Ave. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.