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Crystal Fletcher (Fraser City Council At-large, Michigan, candidate 2025)
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Crystal Fletcher ran for election to the Fraser City Council At-large in Michigan. She was on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.
Fletcher completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Crystal Fletcher provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on September 30, 2025:
- High school: Fraser High School
- Bachelor's: Wayne State University
- Gender: Female
- Profession: Healthcare
- Incumbent officeholder: No
- Campaign slogan: Your Advocate for a Better Community
- Campaign website
- Campaign endorsements
- Campaign Facebook
Elections
General election
General election for Fraser City Council At-large (3 seats)
Matthew Dantes, Crystal Fletcher, George-Michael Higgins, Lora Michael, and Patrick O'Dell ran in the general election for Fraser City Council At-large on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Matthew Dantes (Nonpartisan) | ||
Crystal Fletcher (Nonpartisan)  | ||
 | George-Michael Higgins (Nonpartisan) | |
| Lora Michael (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Patrick O'Dell (Nonpartisan) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Election results
Endorsements
To view Fletcher's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Fletcher in this election.
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Crystal Fletcher completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fletcher's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Born and raised in Fraser, I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Fraser High School in 2007 and have always felt a deep connection to this community. After volunteering through school, church, and later organizations like Teach 4 Detroit and the American Red Cross, I’ve remained committed to service. I’ve lived locally my entire life and chose Fraser as my permanent home in 2021. I’ve been married for 5 years and share my home with our rescue pets - 2 dogs and 3 cats. I have a passion for the arts and literacy, collecting a small library within my house. I bring curiosity, drive, and a passion for positive change—ready to listen, learn, and work hard for the city I love.
- Everyone deserves to be heard. I believe in transparent, inclusive decision-making and will advocate for practical solutions to issues like high water rates, downtown development, and city services that directly impact our daily lives.
- I bring curiosity, integrity, and a willingness to do the work. I may not be a political insider, but I ask the right questions, do the research, and prioritize what’s best for the community over pride or politics.
- Born and raised in Fraser, I’ve chosen to build my life and future here. This city is my lifelong home, and I’m committed to preserving and improving it for all residents.
I am most passionate about strengthening quality of life in Fraser. That means tackling high water rates, holding service providers accountable, and creating spaces where neighbors can connect and take pride in our city. From revamping the downtown area to exploring a new dog park, I believe smart, sustainable improvements can make Fraser even better. Above all, I will listen, research, and ensure every decision reflects what’s best for our residents.
City council connects the city to the state legal system, through acts such as passing local ordinance that aligns with state law. We ensure that our public services, such as law enforcement, are operating effectively and with transparency. Council can also encourage engagement within the community through public safety initiatives, neighborhood programs, and community awareness. Council members have access to resources through the state and federal government that allow vast improvements within the community if found. Council members can work directly with the government to attain these funds, but it requires dedications and work ethic to apply. That why it is vital to elect officials that are willing to get their hands dirty and put in the elbow grease.
I think there are a number of essential characteristics we need in our elected officials. Integrity and accountability is a very important one. We need officials willing to do what's right, even if it's the difficult thing to do. We also need these officials to be transparent in their activities and willing to take responsibility for their failures in office. I think it's incredibly important to be an active listener; it is integral to ensure that constituents feel that their voices are heard. It is also important to maintain a dialogue between the officials and citizens that explains decisions made by the council both clearly and respectfully. We need officials committed to the community, putting time and effort in to serve effectively. Vision is so important for the city. We need representatives that have ideas for the future of the community, pairing it with realistic, actionable steps. The most obvious of them all is teamwork. It is imperative that an elected official can work well with other officials, staff and the public. We must work together to create a vision for the future and implement it in a way that brings consensus versus division.
The first and foremost responsibility as a member of city council is to be a representative of the people within the community; listen to constituents and take their concerns forward, ensuring all voices feel heard in decision-making. Oversight through monitoring our public services departments, contracts, and services and holding service providers and city leadership accountable. The oversight and allocation of fund is an vital part of the position, ensuring our tax dollars are used effectively and efficiently. To create a vision for the landscape of the city and proceed to bring it to fruition through zoning, development projects, and city planning. Pursuing and ensuring effective public services such as police, fire, parks, roads, and sanitation. It's also essential to support initiatives to improve residents' daily lives. City council members must work together to build consensus and foster productive dialogue in order to foster improvement of the city.
My mother always told me to "leave the world better than you came in it". I truly live by that philosophy. I am no perfect person, by any means, but I hope that I am remembered as someone that tried their best to make a difference in their community and help work towards a better future for the generations to come.
The first real historical event for me was 9/11/2001. I was 12 years old. The middle school didn't tell us what had transpired until halfway through the school day. We truly had no concept of the gravity of the situation, as I recall a kid in class exclaiming disappointment about the football game getting cancelled. I remember complete silence exiting the bus to go home. The normal background noise from the skies was so much more obvious in it's absence, and incredibly eerie. When I arrived home, my mother was just staring at the TV with her hand over her mouth sobbing. My brother was in the Air Force at the time. She just turned and said that she knew he would be deployed and she was terrified. That day changed hundreds of thousands of peoples lives. It changed the way we viewed the world. It was a true turning point in society. I actually just recently read "September 11: An Oral History" just before the recent anniversary. Both the tragedy and the show of strength of the human spirit were ever present on that day. We mourned together as a society and we came together to help one another. The latter part I believe is something we need to work together on. We need to work to find commonality instead of our differences.
At a young age, I was a victim of a domestic violence situation. I had never thought that someone that was raised to be an independent woman would end up in my position but, alas, I had. It was an absolutely terrifying experience and I am so very thankful that I chose myself the day that I escaped. It took years of therapy and a lot of self love to get to a place where I feel safe again. It has certainly shaped my adult life in a way that I have great compassion, but also an inner strength that is unrivaled.
Councils often approve franchise agreements with utilities (like cable, internet, or energy providers), which affects service quality and sometimes rates. I think this is important to note, though I do truly feel our council has been doing it's best with the rising costs of energy. It's important that, if we feel that we are not being heard, we can petition to our council members to review our agreements and act accordingly.
I certainly believe that prior experience for any position can certainly help. I don't think it necessarily means that an individual would be a better fit than those without experience, but it certainly can work in their favor.
Communication and public engagement is essential, as a council member must know how to connect with citizens in the community. Having insight into local government is certainly a plus; any expertise in public policy, finance, and infrastructure/services would be incredibly useful. Volunteerism and service work is a great skill, as it establishes practical experience with nonprofits, civics groups, or other local initiatives. Conflict mediation is a great skill to have on a council, as disagreements are guaranteed, and experience handling disagreements fairly and constructively would certainly allow for healthier dialogue between council members.
The incredibly thing about being a part of city council is that it is such a government position that your constituents are tangible. We have the opportunity to truly hear the voices within our community first hand and improve their daily lives directly. Government notoriously moves slow, but at the local level it is much easier to see more immediate impact from decision made on the council. Council has the opportunity to work on and solve community issues in real time. The beauty of local politics is that it is much less bi-partisan and much more about our community as a whole. We are all citizens of Fraser and we must work together to improve the community.
Run For Something
Dana Sutherland (former Fraser City Council)
Dana Sutherland (former Fraser City Council)
Stepping out of my comfort zone and stepping up to run for a position in government! We need people with passion and integrity in our government and I'm proud to put myself out there to do my best to improve the community.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ "Email with Michigan Secretary of State," September 11, 2025
