Kent Councilwoman Resigns; Boyd Enters Board Race
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The Kent Town Board will be functioning with only four members for the next several months following the resignation earlier this month of Councilwoman Noelle Botte.
Botte, who was appointed to the board in February to fill a vacancy after Jaime McGlasson was elected supervisor last November, announced at the start of the Sept. 6 meeting she was moving to Florida since her husband’s employer was relocating.
“It is truly with deep regret that I leave this position and leave Kent, and I’m so proud to be a part of this community of caring, wonderful people,” she said, fighting back tears. “It’s been really a great time. It’s a heartbreaker, but I’m okay.”
Last November, Botte, a Republican, finished fourth in a five-way race for two available seats won by GOP Councilman Jorma Tompuri and Democrat Anne Campbell.
“I will miss my colleagues who made me feel so welcome. You guys are a great team,” she said. “You guys are going to do awesome, great things, and I wish I was going to be here to see it through. I leave you all with a heavy heart and I wish Kent the very best in years to come.”
Botte was named Volunteer of the Year last year by the Lake Carmel Park District Advisory Board. She was planning to run for reelection for a full term this November.
Instead, the Kent Republican and Conservative committees have endorsed Shaun Boyd to go head-to-head with Democrat Simon Carey.
Boyd, 53, is a 1987 graduate of Carmel High School and the father of two sons, Nicholas, 27, and Eric, 26. His family has lived in Kent since the early 1970s and has a family business called Boyd Artesian Well Company and H2O Services, which he started in 2004.
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