---
title: "Water Bills Shape Highland Park Mayor Race Before Tuesday Vote"
url: https://www.heredetroitmi.com/2026/11/01/highland-park-mayor-race-water-mcdonald-harris/
date: 2026-11-01T06:35:56-05:00
modified: 2026-11-01T06:35:56-05:00
author: "Melody Magana"
categories: ["Politics"]
site: "HERE Detroit"
attribution: "HERE Detroit"
---

# Water Bills Shape Highland Park Mayor Race Before Tuesday Vote

> HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. — Voters in Highland Park, the small city surrounded by Detroit, pick a mayor on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and the cost and reliability of tap water sit at the center of the contest. Incumbent Mayor Glenda McDonald is being challenged by a longtime resident and community activist who built the Avalon Village

*Source: [HERE Detroit](https://www.heredetroitmi.com/2026/11/01/highland-park-mayor-race-water-mcdonald-harris/) — November 1, 2026 by Melody Magana*

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. — Voters in Highland Park, the small city surrounded by Detroit, pick a mayor on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and the cost and reliability of tap water sit at the center of the contest.

Incumbent Mayor Glenda McDonald is being challenged by a longtime resident and community activist who built the Avalon Village eco-village and handed out bottled water when residents were told to boil their water twice in March 2025.

The city has been fighting the Great Lakes Water Authority, which supplies its drinking water, over combined sewer overflow charges. Highland Park wants a $1.5 million cut to that bill for fiscal 2026, arguing the charges should follow metered wet weather volumes rather than an old formula. The city council also adopted a 90-day moratorium on water shutoffs in October. Both candidates say they want to bring back the local water plant, which shut down in 2012.

The winner will run a council-mayor government in which the mayor serves as chief executive and names the water department director, subject to approval by the five council members, who are elected at large to four-year terms.

On Election Day, voting runs 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.