By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The outcome of last Tuesday’s city election was unchanged after 560 absentee and questioned ballots were counted Friday afternoon at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
It took about two hours to count the ballots cast as advanced voting, personal representative, questioned and absentee ballots, with City Clerk Sara Peterson feeding the ballots through the counting machine one at a time. Only a handful of spectators were on hand to watch the process.
Sitka Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson, left, holds up a computer-rejected ballot that was marked with checks instead of filled-in dots, Friday at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Questioned and absentee ballots were added into the Tuesday totals in the municipal election. The outcome of the election remained unchanged after all the votes were tallied. Also pictured are Melissa Henshaw and Bob Potrzuski. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
The closest race was for Assembly, where Valorie Nelson had a 46-vote margin over Brinnen Carter on election night in the race for the second of the two open Assembly seats. After the absentee and questioned ballots were counted her margin of victory narrowed to 28 votes.
Kevin Mosher retained his position as the highest vote-getter in the Assembly race.
Gary Paxton was elected mayor; Eric Van Cise and Amy Morrison won the two open School Board seats.
Ballot Proposition 1 passed, to reinstate the senior sales tax exemption, and Ballot Proposition 2 failed, which would have exempted Sitka from the state ban on smoking in public places and the workplace. The state law went into effect Oct. 1.
The Assembly will certify the results at its regular meeting Tuesday, after which the city clerk will swear in Paxton, Nelson and Mosher. The new members will replace Mayor Matt Hunter, Ben Miyasato and Bob Potrzuski on the Assembly.
The city issued an announcement today that the senior sales tax exemption, which ended July 1 when the Assembly voted to replace it with a needs-based rebate, will go back into effect when the Assembly certifies the election results Tuesday night. The senior exemption is available to any resident of the state of Alaska who is 65 or older. Today’s announcement said seniors may show their state-issued driver’s license or ID at local retailers to be exempted from paying sales tax on goods, services or rentals, but they may be required to show state issued identification at the utility desk at city hall for exemption on utility and harbor bill sales tax.
“The state-issued identification will be required while a new implementation policy is developed,” today’s announcement said.
“We cannot go back to the old numbering system, and so while staff is developing a new policy, the state issued identification will be required,” Maegan Bosak, city community affairs director, said. In the past, a senior exemption card with number was issued at city hall.
Bosak said the public will be advised of the new policy before it is implemented.
Here are the final unofficial results; including the absentee count in parentheses:
Mayor
Gary Paxton – 1,721 (349)
Benjamen Miyasato – 788 (126)
Aaron Bean – 386 (65)
Assembly (two seats)
Kevin Mosher – 1,278 – (249)
Valorie Nelson – 1,155 (209)
Brinnen Carter – 1,127 (227)
Sheila Finkenbinder – 996 (173)
Blossom Twitchell – 969 (186)
School Board (two seats)
Eric Van Cise – 1,885 (339)
Amy Morrison – 1,729 (318)
Cass Karras Pook – 1,405 (278)
Proposition 1 (senior sales tax exemption)
Yes – 1,735 (322)
No – 1,217 (232)
Proposition 2 (exemption from statewide smoking ban)
Yes – 1,269 (216)
No – 1,672 (333)
Nelson was the only candidate present at the count of absentee and questioned ballots. She said she was “now more than cautiously optimistic and ready to get to work to make things better.”
She said she’s already talking to residents about ways to improve the city and generate revenue.
“Before I make any decisions, I’m going to research the issues,” Nelson said.
She said she knows the negotiations scheduled for the prospective hospital merger are an issue of concern for many Sitkans.
“My game plan is to have the best people on the negotiating team,” she said. “That’s not to say those people can’t be changed or augmented.”
She said she’s still interested in getting some of her questions answered by SEARHC.
