HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Holland City Councilman Jay Peters has announced he’ll seek another four-year term of office.
“I believe that my years of civic engagement have served me well in navigating our city’s changing landscape in my first three terms,” he wrote in an email to WHTC, “and I hope the residents of the Second Ward will permit me to share their collective voices at city council for another four years.”
In an interview Friday morning, March 15, 2019, with WHTC morning host Gary Stevens, Peters said it’s the first time he’s had to “sit back and think hard about” running for office. This would be his fourth term. He said it takes six or seven years in office to understand the connections in place and ramifcations of how money is allocated.
The Second Ward resident is a life-long Holland resident, who says he’s been excited to see the growth and development in his hometown.
“We are not the community we used to be,” he said. “That’s good and it’s bad.”
He said it’s important to make sure everyone who lives in or moves to Holland feels welcome here, and suggested this may be his last term of office.
He indicated the changes happening may feel “threatening to the way we have always donethings; to others it’s exciting and it’s the energy that draws people here. Regardless howwe feel about change, it’s here.”
Housing, he said, remains one of Holland’s biggest challenges — affordable housing is considered a nationwide issue. Housing means growth, he said, and that will affect everything from city services and needs to how police respond to traffic crashes and the size of the school district.
“In 10 years, we could have another 10,000 people living in the four townships, that really make Holland an island,” he said, adding that township residents pay less taxes but using Holland amenities.
He noted that city hall leaders have changed a lot over the last five years, and some are still adjusting to their jobs.
“We have to figure out sooner than rather than later — certainly in the next four years that I’m in office — how do we find a financial model or work toward a financial model that makes more sense about sustaining the City of Holland — and make sure we invest and continue to have the resources to invest in the city.”
The deadline for candidates to file petitions to get on the ballot is 4 p.m. on April 23, 2019.
So far, Holland Mayor Nancy Deboer has declared she’ll run for another two-year term of office; Holland attorney Nathan Bocks has declared he’ll challenge DeBoer.
At-Large Concilman Wayne Komparens is running and being challenged by Lyn Raymond; Sixth Ward Councilman Dave Hoekstra will run. Ward 4 Council Brian Lynn told WHTC in an email that he and his wife are discussing whether or not he’ll seek a second term.
Peters said he hopes to see more people come out to cast ballots in elections.
