PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County voters have until 8 tonight to submit their primary election ballots. They can be mailed with a stamp or dropped off postage-free at one of the six county-wide locations.
A Chimacum School Board position will be narrowed from four candidates to the top two for November’s general election, and voters in Jefferson County Fire District 1 will either approve or reject East Jefferson Fire-Rescue’s proposal to expand from three board members to five.
As of Monday afternoon, 6,063 of 22,317 issued ballots had been returned (27.2 percent), according to Sandy Eldridge of the Jefferson County auditor’s office.
Results will be released at 8 p.m. Tuesday and additional ballots will be counted by 4 p.m. Friday, depending on volume, according to the auditor’s office. Results are expected to be certified Aug. 20.
The Chimacum School District has three of its five board positions on the ballot, but only District 3 has more than two candidates. Jeremy Perrott, Kristina Mayer, Gary Frogner and Steve Martin all are running for the four-year position currently held by board chair Mike Gould.
Gould is not running for re-election.
“I’m hoping to get through the primary,” Parrott said. “It’s been a short race, but I think I’ve had the opportunity to share the message, and it’s resonated well, but we’ll have to see.”
Mayer said she’s ready to see progress.
“I’m looking forward to an outcome that says people in Chimacum are ready to value investment in schools, and they’re ready to brand and build reason for families to choose Chimacum and step into our full potential and make visible, notable steps forward.”
Frogner said he wants the best candidate who has the schools’ best interests to win the race.
“There are things that need to happen in Olympia, but there are definitely things that can be done on the home front, too,” he said.
Martin has coached youth soccer and baseball, and he said he can bring a unique perspective because he has children who attend Chimacum schools.
“I think that’s a voice that’s needed on the school board,” Martin said. “We have an opportunity to get that now with so many openings on the board, and the board needs some representation that has a clear look of what’s going on in the schools.”
For the East Jefferson Fire-Rescue proposition, board expansion would guarantee a representative from within the city of Port Townsend. The city was annexed into the fire district in February.
Currently, the city has three representatives who serve in an advisory capacity without voting authority.
If the proposition is successful, two members will be selected from a pool of applicants to fill the newly created positions.
A separate proposition will go on the November ballot to establish five commissioner districts, similar to how a school district operates its representation.
The current three-member board operates without district lines. All members are elected at-large.
Drop-off sites
Ballots can be dropped off at the following locations:
• Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend, back parking lot.
• Jefferson County auditor’s office, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend, first floor of the county courthouse.
• Jefferson County Library, 620 Cedar Ave., Port Hadlock.
• Brinnon Community Center, 306144 U.S. Highway 101, Brinnon.
• Quilcene Community Center, 294952 U.S. Highway 101, Quilcene.
• Nordland Fire Station, 6633 Flagler Road, Nordland.
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
