Susan Stark To Represent Ward 4 on Batavia City Council

is familiar with the , but this year she will enter through those doors as an alderman.

Stark earned enough votes to win the Ward 4 City Council seat, according to unofficial results. Her 120 votes represented 49 percent of the vote with five precincts reporting.

"This whole thing has just been amazing," Stark said from her east-side home on Tuesday evening, surrounded by family and supporters.

Stark, an account manager, Historic Preservation Commissioner and longtime Batavia volunteer, beat out restaurant manager and U.S. Postal Service retiree .

Saam walked away with 69 votes, or 28 percent, and Tousana had 49 votes, or 20 percent.

Stark said she is looking forward to seeing some of the big development projects, such as the and the , move closer to reality during her four-year council term.

"There’s a lot of change coming, and I’m excited to see the change," Stark said.

Candidates Show Respect

Stark on Tuesday said Saam and Tousana did a great job during the race. All candidates have many ideas for the city and economic development, she said.

"It's been an exciting journey," Saam said early Tuesday evening, enjoying dinner with her supporters at downtown.

Later on she congratulated Stark in a public message on the Batavia Patch Facebook page. Stark said Saam also sent her a direct message wishing her good luck on the seat.

Saam said if she didn't win the empty seat, she still plans to be involved with the city.

Edward Tousana attended a Fox River Reunion meeting on Tuesday and was not available for part of the evening.

'A Well-Fought Campaign'

 Although she had kind words for Saam and Tousana, Stark thinks she did talk to more people and appealed to the demographic of middle-aged voters.

"I think I was the right candidate at the right time ... but I was nervous earlier tonight," Stark said.

Stark knew the turnout for the Ward 4 race would be low. When she went to vote at the on Tuesday afternoon, she learned that only 110 people had voted at that point.

To that end, Stark wants Ward 4 residents to know that she and fellow Alderman Jim Volk are their voices on the Council. She said many of the people she met during her campaign did not know:

• How many alderman there are in Batavia (14)

• That Ward 4 had two aldermen (currently Jim Volk and Tom Schmitz, who did not seek reelection)
• The actual boundaries of Ward 4 (reaches from Fabyan Parkway to the north, Fox River to the west, Wilson Street to the south and Kirk Road to the east)

"I was out a lot of hours," Stark said. "I went out and talked to people. I think I walked every block of the fourth ward. It was a well-fought campaign."

To see a table of election results for this race and other Batavia races, click .