Election results announced
COSHOCTON – Here is a brief roundup of Election Night 2015 highlights from the Nov. 3 general election.
Village of West Lafayette
The Village of West Lafayette has a new mayor after what was a pretty close race for most of election night.
When the first round of results came in after the polls closed, Stephen R. Bordenkircher was only ahead of Timothy L. Tubbs II by one vote, 268 to 267. However, when the final unofficial results were announced the difference in votes had widened to 319 for Bordenkircher and 288 for Tubbs.
“I’m excited,” Bordenkircher said. “I appreciate the voters support and wish Mayor Patterson the best in his retirement. My first step once I get in office will be to put my ideas to a formal plan and set goals. I’m going to do everything in my power to make my ideas come together. It’s going to be a busy four years because I have a lot of ideas to put into place.”
Tubbs thanked everyone who came out and voted.
“Everybody who came out and voted had their voices heard and I’m glad to see the participation from the community,” he said. “I also congratulated Mr. Bordenkircher on a good race. I jumped into this blind and learned a lot during the process. If I decide to do this again there are a couple of things I’d change, but all in all it was a good and enjoyable experience.”
Tubbs hopes that he helped people realize that anyone who wants to make a difference in their community can run for an elected position.
“It’s not about wealth or social status,” he said. “Anybody that wants to do this (run for an office) can and I think that is proven now.”
City of Coshocton
Coshocton City Mayor Steve Mercer also was challenged by a newcomer to politics. Write in candidate Rick Williamson gathered 693 votes, but Mercer came out on top with 1,730.
For the next four years, Mayor Mercer intends to focus on neighborhood improvement, downtown revitalization, continue the aggressive street paving project, and business retention and jobs.
“I am very grateful for the support shown,” said Mercer. “This is a tough business to be in and 71 percent is a strong statement that they (voters) are endorsing what our administration is trying to do.”
City Council First Ward Councilman Bob Fetters also retained his seat in the only city council contested race. He received 270 votes to his challenger Steven S. Williams 212 votes.
Education
People who voted for members of the Ridgewood Local School District had eight people to choose from for three seats. For those positions the voters chose Catherine McCrea with 1,649 votes, John Riebesell with 1,149 votes and Helen Leindecker with 959 votes.
Voters in the River View Local School District had the opportunity to vote for a renewal tax levy and Superintendent Dalton Summers was very glad to see that 2,491 people said yes to it and only 1,397 said no.
“On behalf of the River View Board of Education, all of our students, and all of the staff, I want to thank the River View community for again supporting this operating levy,” Summers said. “Our children deserve a quality education and our community expects it. This is just another great example of the support that River View citizens give to their schools. We use passages of renewal levies to gage not only the support we have from our public, but also the level of satisfaction they have with our fiscal responsibilities.”
The passing of this levy helps secure the level of quality education that the district can provide to its students.
“As many know, we will now focus our attention to our facilities,” Summers said. “We will be analyzing many community factors as well as increasing community awareness as to the actual condition, age, and barriers that our current facilities have. Please take time to visit any of our buildings.”
According to Summers, River View’s board of education will be making some critical decisions this coming year.
“These decisions can and will impact the community, our kids, and the future success of River View,” he said. “Again, we thank each of you for your past, present, and future support of the River View School District.”
For more election results, visit www.coshoctoncounty.net/agency/boe/results.php.
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