By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A second South Lyon resident has stepped forward with a write-in campaign for an open seat on the school board.

No one filed by the July deadline for a partial term on the South Lyon Community Schools Board of Education that runs through 2024. Earlier this week it was learned that Bridgett McDowell, a former middle school math teacher who currently works for the Michigan Department of Education, was running a write-in campaign. Now a second candidate has stepped forward. Ann Rimanelli is also running as a write-in candidate for the seat.

Rimanelli says her background in the financial services industry has provided her “professional experience in balancing risk and reward to benefit all stakeholders.” She and her husband have lived in South Lyon for 18 years, with her son graduating this year from South Lyon High School, where her eldest daughter is currently a senior. Her youngest daughter is an 8th grader at Millennium Middle School.

Rimanelli says she has been active in the district, “maintaining leadership roles on the parent boards of the Early Childhood Center and Brummer Elementary” as well as “leadership roles within the South Lyon High School Marching Band and South Lyon High School Theatre groups.” In a letter to the school board, Rimanelli says that if she is elected, one of her top goals would be to partner with other members of the Board, the administration, and community to work toward maintaining the high standards “we’ve come to expect from our district” and that she believes in providing “unique paths” to meet students’ needs for success after graduation, whether that is service to the nation or community, skilled trades, or other higher learning paths.

In an email to WHMI, Rimanelli says "This election is generating a lot of discussion and focus on getting our kids back to school. I'd like to see them back in class as quickly as is feasible, keeping the welfare of our students and teachers front and center. That said, this is a three year term and I hope we're not talking about this for the duration. I feel the district is moving in the right direction but like most journeys the trip is often not a straight line; 2020 is certainly proof of that. The district is operating in a fiscally responsible manner, however, a shortage of, or limitation on, funds places constraints on opportunities made available to students. A growing, though unpredictable, population base makes it difficult to appropriately plan for facility and staffing requirements, leading to redistricting issues and facility constraints. We can continue to work with other municipalities, like Oakland Technical Campus, to support initiatives that allow our students to explore opportunities in skilled trades. There is an opportunity to reach out to area businesses through city economic development coordinators to provide opportunities for internships for students to explore skilled trades."

You can read Rimanelli’s full letter to the board through the attachment below.