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Alexander Dewitt is a political activist and candidate for Bay City, Michigan's Sixth Ward Commission Seat in 2024.
Alexander Dewitt | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1991 |
| Education | Northwood University (BBA-Accounting) |
| Title | Bay City Charter Commissioner City Commission Candidate-Sixth Ward |
| Term | 2017-2019 |
| Awards | Saginaw Valley State University: Henry G. Marsh Center For Public Policy-2023 Cohort |
Early life and Education
[edit]Dewitt was born and raised in Bay City, Michigan, by his parents and was the eldest of two children. He graduated from Bay City Central High School in 2009. During his Senior year he and four other students helped stop their bus after the driver became incapacitated[1]. He went on to Northwood University and graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Business Arts in Accounting.
He received his Eagle from ScoutsBSA in 2007 after building a reading garden at his former elementary school. After a few years off during college he has been an Assistant Scoutmaster for his old troop.
Professional Career
[edit]Dewitt spent most of his college years working at Kmart in Bangor Township, and then has worked at a few other jobs including as a subcontractor at Dow Chemical through Kelly Services, at RWC, Inc. and at the local Mitsubishi car dealer.
Political Career
[edit]Dewitt first got involved in local politics during 2017 when Bay City passed the confirmation of the Nickless Family Pavilion, he was part of the vocal citizens against it's passage, including going to the ribbon cutting to protest the project.[2] He has been a frequent critic of Bay City's government speaking up against raises for their City Manager Dana Muscott [3], expressing concern about the City selling their bascule draw bridges to United Bridge Partners , [4][5][6][7][8] trying to convince the County Road Commission to not raise water utility rates for Bay City residents [9], in favor of local investment in his old neighborhood[10], wanted the City to be more direct with marijuana facility licenses[11], and has been an external budget watchdog for transparency[12].
In 2017 Dewitt ran a successful write-in campaign for Bay City's Charter Commission[13]. He received the fourth most write-in votes out of 18 citizens attempting to get on the Commission.[14] The Charter amendment passed by the voters in 2019 1,892 to 1,383.[15]
During 2019 Dewitt ran a campaign for Bay City's Sixth Ward Commission Seat with the campaign slogan "Bridging Gaps". His inexperience in formal campaigns proved too much to overcome in that race as he lost to former Commissioner[16], landlord[17], and non-profit president Christopher Girard 139 to 221.[15]
After his defeat in the 2019 election against Christopher Girard he turned his campaign social media presence into "Get Accountable Bay City"[6] and has been a regular attendee since then while also publishing what he believes to be pertinent information more broadly than Bay City's government currently does for those in the community to discern for themselves as well as begin calls to get those more involved.
Dewitt has since announced he is again going to run for the Bay City's Sixth Ward Commission Seat in 2024.[18] His slogan this year is "Moving Forward"
- ^ Mid-Michigan, Amy L. Payne | Booth (2009-04-30). "Bay City Central students take control after bus driver becomes ill". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ [email protected], Bob Johnson | (2018-04-20). "Nickless family celebrated at Wenonah Park pavilion ribbon-cutting". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ [email protected], Caitlyn French | (2021-03-16). "Bay City manager gets raise after "extremely satisfactory" performance review". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ Public Input from July 11th, 2019 Bay City Commission.https://civicclerk.blob.core.windows.net/stream/BAYCITYMI/2dc151cada.pdf?sv=2022-11-02&st=2023-10-20T07%3A49%3A32Z&se=2024-10-20T07%3A54%3A32Z&sr=b&sp=r&sig=OuVOjIV9AMqVV84AsxTSpP39jvfY8olpf5RPyLSBrZU%3D
- ^ Sevilla, Dominic (2023-07-28). "Residents express frustration with tolling of bridges in Bay City". Huron Daily Tribune. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ a b deltacollegiate (2020-01-08). "Toll bridges spark outrage among Bay City residents". Delta Collegiate. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ [email protected], Ricardo Quintanilla | (2022-12-13). "Bay City commissioners approve Independence Bridge rehab in lieu of replacement". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ [email protected], Caitlyn French | (2019-08-06). "Bay City will negotiate with company to fix, replace and run its two drawbridges". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ https://baycodws.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/November-2020_TAC_Minutes.pdf PDF of meeting minutes from Bay County Road Commission: November 5th, 2020.
- ^ French, Caitlyn (2020-10-07). "Marijuana grower buys 5-acre industrial site in Bay City's South End, plans to create 100 jobs". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ [email protected], Chris Ehrmann | (2019-01-08). "Bay City approves amendment doubling number of medical marijuana dispensaries allowed". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ [email protected], Caitlyn French | (2022-06-07). "Bay City approves balanced $184M budget, no property tax rate increase". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ [email protected], Andrew Dodson | (2017-11-13). "Here are the elected members of the Bay City Charter Commission". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ [email protected], Andrew Dodson | (2017-11-03). "Meet the 22 candidates for Bay City Charter Commission". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ a b [email protected], Winter Keefer | (2019-11-06). "See live election results for Genesee, Saginaw and Bay counties for Nov. 5, 2019". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ [email protected], Andrew Dodson | (2017-11-03). "Meet the 22 candidates for Bay City Charter Commission". mlive. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ "Log in or sign up to view". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-12-28.