2015 Election Results — Council: MacQueen, Hempfling, Simms
- Published: November 12, 2015
In a close race among just four candidates for three Village Council seats, Yellow Springs voters returned incumbents Marianne MacQueen and Gerald Simms to office on Nov. 3, and voted in former Council President Judith Hempfling. Hopeful Chrissy Cruz did not win a seat.
MacQueen was the top vote-getter, with 1,115 votes, or just over 29 percent of voters. Hempfling and Simms came within a few votes of each other, 973 and 961, respectively, winning 25.6 percent and 25.3 percent of votes. As the top two vote-getters, MacQueen and Hempfling each win four-year terms. Simms wins a two-year term.
Cruz made a strong fourth-place showing with 675 votes, or nearly 18 percent of the vote. This was her second bid for Council; in 2013, she received 5 percent of the vote in a much larger field of candidates.
In addition, 75 voters, or just under 2 percent, wrote in a candidate.
During the James A. McKee-sponsored Candidates’ Night in late October, MacQueen spoke out against Yellow Springs’ participation in the Greene County ACE Task Force and in favor of community policing. Hempfling presented similar views. Simms, by contrast, indicated his support for a continued Yellow Springs police presence on ACE. Economic development was another issue that separated MacQueen and Hempfling, on the one hand, from Simms. Hempfling championed a revived Antioch College as the cornerstone of economic development in the village, while MacQueen highlighted the role of a revived Economic Development Commission. Both emphasized a more grassroots approach to economic development, capitalizing on the assets already within the village. Simms, by contrast, expressed disappointment in the voter rejection of CBE last year, and guarded views about the village’s ability, absent CBE, to attract and retain new small-to-medium-sized businesses.
At that same forum, MacQueen and Hempfling signaled their strong support for environmental issues, including preserving green space around the village. Hempfling said she supported improving affordability, including working to repeal the landlord utility policy enacted by Council last year.
Precinct breakdowns for the Village Council race, and the areas they represent, are as follows:
440 (north edge of village): MacQueen, 336; Hempfling, 290; Cruz, 223; Simms, 249
441 (west Yellow Springs): MacQueen, 231; Hempfling, 215; Cruz, 121; Simms, 227
442 (center of town): MacQueen, 239; Hempfling, 227; Cruz, 172; Simms, 192
443 (south end): MacQueen, 309; Hempfling, 241; Cruz, 159; Simms, 293.
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