Chelsea chooses Grace

In front of a packed room at Station 31 Kitchen, Mayor Tony Picklesimer announced Tuesday night that incumbent council member Chris Grace won the Chelsea municipal election, defeating Chris Thomas by a vote of 367 to 190. 

Grace took the stage to address the crowd donning a hat that former Chief Wayne Shirley had given him after a long day spent outside Chelsea City Hall waving at voter as they came to cast their ballots.

"Thank you for your votes and for your confidence in me as a leader," Grace said. "When I was approached about this position [to take over the term for David Ingram last fall], I had to think about it. I had worked for 23 years in cities, counties and with different governing bodies, so I'd never really thought about running for office. When the opportunity arose to be appointed, it was a great opportunity. I've enjoyed it. You guys have been wonderful to work with. This is an exciting city, there is exciting stuff going on and I'm so excited to have another four years to continue to contribute and and continue the progress with the progress that these folks have made."

Mayor Tony Picklesimer also spoke and said it is one of the greatest honors of his life to serve the city as mayor and he is glad to get the opportunity to serve for another four years.

"This [council] they are so supportive," Picklesimer said. "They push me. We don't always agree, but we always treat each other with class and respect and compromise is not a bad thing if it's for the right reasons."

He added that he knew what Chris Thomas went through running his campaign and that he appreciated his willingness to serve.

"I look forward to serving with this [council] again for four more years and we'll swear in again on Nov. 2," Picklesimer said. "We've got some great things on the horizon and lot of good things happening."

Grace also added that he appreciated the fact that the race was a clean one.

"Thanks to Mr. Thomas for his willingness to serve our community by running for office," Grace said. "This has been a great exercise in civic engagement for me. COVID-19 created a challenging environment for campaigning, and I am so grateful to our citizens for choosing me for a full term. I look forward to moving ahead with our capital projects and continuing the progress we have going."