Any shot I may have had at leveraging the ouster of Commissioner Coughlin via either the August primary ballot or the November general ballot vaporized when Coughlin pulled down 62.22% of the vote in the Ward 1 Primary.  Because that's a clear majority of the votes cast, he's in with no need to run in November.  (That Scott Bailey never actually got off his duff and ran any campaign whatsoever, let alone an effective one, didn't help matters any.)

And as soon as my family returned from the hospital after my daughter's birth, I made a point of checking the Kent County website, Elections Department, to see as to whether or not the proposed charter amendment was actually placed on the ballot.  Imagine my surprise when I found (on page 4) this:

Shall Section 14.1, Chapter XIV, of the Charter of the City of Kentwood be amended to prohibit persons who have been convicted of a felony from being qualified to serve in elective office in the City?

And this was apparently done with no fanfare or press release whatsoever.  In fact, I went by Commissioner VerWys' place of work last week and discussed it with him, and it was the first that he'd heard of it; ditto for key players in my citywide political ground crew.  Evidently, the AG approved it, the Governor signed off on it, and the City Clerk just notified the County Clerk that this was to be placed on the November ballot (all without so much as a "by your leave").