Voters in Marysville were in the mood for change Tuesday, voting out a pair of City Council incumbents.
“I will forever be grateful for the group of citizens who want to see change,” Donald Boerger, councilman elect for Marysville’s Fourth Ward, said this morning.
In Marysville’s Fourth Ward, Boerger defeated council’s longest seated member, Nevin Taylor.
According to unofficial results from the Union County Board of Elections, Boerger received 612 votes, Taylor 303 votes.
In Marysville’s Ward 1, Aaron Carpenter defeated incumbent Scott Brock as well as challengers Josh Bockhor and Scott Zwiezinski. According to unofficial results from the Union County Board of Elections, Carpenter received 765 votes, while Brock earned 322. Zwiezinski and Bochkor earned 263 votes and 74 votes respectively.
“Words cannot accurately express my gratitude, and I will never forget meeting you, at your doorsteps, in these last seven months,” Carpenter said in a prepared statement. “Our conversations have shaped the Councilman I will be in these next four years. I look forward to representing you, and I am ready to get to work for you and the City of Marysville.”
Alan Seymour in Ward 2 and Deborah Groat in Ward 3 were unopposed for their council seats. According to unofficial results from the Union County Board of Elections, Seymour received 511 votes and Groat 444.
“You came out and made your voice heard,” Boerger told the voters of Ward 4.
He added, “Marysville is our home and we will fight for her. I am honored to be your Ward 4 councilman for the City of Marysville.”
Boerger said he created his campaign because he believes in “integrity, passion and vision.
“We will create a community which supports its residents, businesses and history,” Boerger said.
He said he appreciated those who have supported and guided him, including Taylor.
“It is because of him I ran for public office,” Boerger said.
He said he is “excited to work with so many wonderful individuals who dedicate their lives to public service.”
“Marysville is ready to have her voice back and I am ready to create a new chapter in my life and get to work,” Boerger said. “I am looking forward to beginning my service to our community in January.”
Taylor, who has been on council more than two decades, said he is “shocked and disappointed” by the results, but said he has “two months to get a lot of work done.”
“I am proud of the work I have done,” Taylor said. “I have all the faith in the five individuals that they will take care of Marysville in the future.”
Carpenter said he appreciated the voters of Ward 1 and that he is prepared to work with council as well as the other candidates. Most of all, Carpenter said, he would work with and listen to “each and every single one of you.”
As a newly elected councilman, Carpenter has a message for city council members and other elected officials in the area.
“I would like to be honest with you: Change is coming. Not from me, per se, but from the very large flux of people who will be inevitably moving to Marysville and Union County in the next 5-10 years,” Carpenter wrote. “We must be prepared for this. We must welcome this. And we must be ready to consider a new path forward, a path that has not necessarily been taken in the past. I look forward to working together, with you, to unify our city and maximize Marysville’s potential going forward.”
Brock, who was appointed to council earlier this year, was not available for comment.