TONIGHT’S JEFFERSON COUNTY PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS:
— Jefferson County Library District’s 20-year, $8.4 million bond issue has failed.
The count:
3,394 yes, 45.54 percent.
4,059 no, 54.46 percent.
(** See comments, below **)
The bond needed a supermajority 60 percent plus one majority to pass. It is unlikely late-arriving ballots will reverse the trend.
If the bond had passed, the total amount taxpayers would owe over 20 years would have been $12.5 million, counting interest, the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office said.
Per property owner, this would have meant about 17 cents per $1,000 in assessed valuation, or $44 per year for the owner of a home with an assessed value of $250,000.
— PORT TOWNSEND CITY COUNCIL:
Deborah Stinson — 1,155, 48.27 percent.
Jack Range, 1,018, 42.54 percent.
(** See their comments, below **)
Range and Stinson were the only actual candidates in this election and, as the top two primary vote-getters, both will now advance to the Nov. 8 general election.
Candidate withdrawal notices came on July 19 from attorney Paul Richmond (by choice, citing his workload) — Richmond received 120 votes (5.01 percent) — and on July 20 from retired chiropractor Pamela Adams (because of city residency eligibility). Adams got 100 votes (4.18 percent).
Both withdrawals came after ballots were printed.
The City Council seat is now held by Laurie Medlicott, who is not seeking re-election to a third four-year term.
VOTER TURNOUT — Jefferson County Auditor’s Office issued 15,029 ballots to registered voters within the county library district, and 7,453 (49.6 percent) had been returned as of today (Tuesday).
Voters within Port Townsend were issued 6,846 ballots, with 2,444 returned (35.7 percent).
NEXT COUNT — Karen Cartmel, Jefferson County chief deputy auditor and elections coordinator, said there were no uncounted ballots in hand Tuesday night.
Cartmel said that about 600 ballots are expected to be received either through the mail this week, or from the Jefferson County Library and Jefferson County Courthouse drop boxes by Wednesday morning.
(The library drop box is emptied Monday, Wednesday and Friday while the courthouse drop box is emptied each morning.)
The next vote count will be about noon on Friday.
COMMENTS ON LIBRARY BOND DEFEAT:
“We got eaten up,” said Jefferson County Library Director Ray Serebrin.
The bond money would have renovated and expanded the main library in Port Hadlock, adding 9,700 square feet to the existing 10,000-square-foot building, which will also have undergone undergo considerable renovations.
Serebrin said the issues that prompted the measure still exist.
“We are still overcrowded and have a need to expand services,” he said. “I will be meeting with the [library] board so we can explore what other options we have.”
Davis Steelquist, a Quilcene resident, had opposed the proposed bond measure.
“They do need some upgrades,” Steelquist said in July. “But they are going about it all wrong by asking for funding and then develop a plan.
“I think they should do their research first and find out how much it will cost, then bring that plan to the voters.”
COMMENTS FROM STINSON, RANGE:
“It’s been a good campaign so far, and I look forward to the next few months of discussing the issues that are important to Port Townsend,” said Stinson, 55.
Said Range, 25: “I think I made a good showing. We are separated by about 100 votes.”
Both Range and Stinson are making a first bid for elective office.
Range, an investigator for the Public Defender’s Office, said he was happy with the outcome.
“I made a difference, and what I’ve been saying struck a chord with a lot of Port Townsendites.”
Stinson said she looked forward to the next phase of the campaign.
Stinson has been recognized for her work with many environmental and community sustainability efforts on a variety of local service organizations and was a 2011 recipient of the Jefferson County Heart of Service award for outstanding community service.
——————–
Ballots for the primary had to be postmarked by today (Tuesday), or voters could take their ballots to drop-off sites by 8 p.m.
Around the state, primary elections were dominated by local races for mayor, school board and city council positions.
There were no statewide races on any ballot, and about 20 percent of Washington voters did not have an election to decide.
This election is Washington’s first with all counties relying on an all-mail vote. Pierce County was the last county in the state to switch.
