Native Roanoker Stephen Kepley was elected mayor of Kentwood, Michigan on Tuesday. This office is referred to as a “strong mayor position” since the mayor is also the city manager, making it a full-time job. His opponent in the non-partisan race was a city councilwoman, who had served for over a decade.
Stephen has been Kentwood’s director of engineering and inspections/city engineer/ building official for ten years. In that capacity, he was a strong proponent of bringing new businesses to the city by changing procedures and attitudes. Using the motto, “Kentwood is Open For Business,” he expedited the processes and problems-solved with developers, builders and owners to get them on their needed business schedules.
Stephen attended Crystal Spring Elementary, James Madison Jr. High, and graduated from Patrick Henry in 1984. He received his Industrial Engineering and Operations Research degree from Virginia Tech in 1988. He is the son of John and Mary Elizabeth Kepley of Roanoke.