By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The count of Election Day ballots Tuesday night showed Steve Eisenbeisz leading in his race for a second term as mayor, and Chris Ystad and Thor Christianson leaders in the race for the two seats on the Assembly. Both of the propositions on the ballot were passing by comfortable margins.
Final unofficial results will not be known until Friday with the count of up to 860 absentee ballots – more than one-third of all ballots cast in the election.
Eisenbeisz led in the three-way mayor’s race with 798 votes to 478 for Valorie Nelson and 263 for Kevin Mosher.
City Administrator John Leach smiles as ballot results are posted election night at Harrigan Centennial Hall. (Sentinel Photo)
One race where the margins are closer is the Assembly contest. Chris Ystad had a decisive margin in the race for two Assembly seats, with 933 votes. Thor Christianson, the incumbent, received 747 votes to 626 for third-place Richard Wein. Other candidates were Kris Chinalski, with 505 votes, and Ryan Herbert, 101.
The election day count showed Prop. 1 passing with a 203-vote margin, 862-659. The proposition calls for removing the regular sales tax on marijuana (5 or 6 percent), and instead imposing a special 6 percent marijuana sales tax, with proceeds dedicated to school activities and related travel.
Ballot Prop. 2 passed 1,224-309, a margin that puts it out of the range of a possible change after the absentee count. It calls for dedicating the $8.18 million proceeds from the sale of Sitka Community Hospital property toward construction of a community haulout and boatyard at the industrial park.
In the School Board election, Mitch Mork received 1,145 votes, Tristan Guevin 1,086, and write-in candidate Melonie Boord 358. The candidate with the highest total in the final count will get the three-year seat on the board, and the second place finisher will get the two-year seat. Boord is the assured winner of the one-year term.
Historically, the absentee vote count follows the trend of the election night results, and does not affect outcomes except in races decided by very small margins.
Eisenbeisz said he was pleased to see the results, not only in the mayor’s race, but others as well.
“I’m excited to see resounding support not only for myself but for the current Assembly, and municipal administration,” he said. “Because I believe last night’s vote was a vote for us to continue down the path we’re on and I now believe I have the support to continue to do so.”
In the Assembly race, Ystad said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the support he received from voters, and attributed some of that to his support for haulout and shipyard.
“I think the fishing fleet was happy to have a fisherman running and putting themselves out there,” he said. “I heard from some young fishermen that this is the first time they’ve voted.”
Ystad, a seiner, has served on the Port and Harbors Commission and the Gary Paxton Industrial Park board. He said he’s looking forward to not only providing help on the haulout planning, but also with Sitka’s housing issues.
“I’m hoping we can open up land for development and try to attack the problem not just for single family dwellings but something angled toward smaller, more affordable homes,” he said.
Christianson currently ended the night with a 121-vote margin over Wein, who served a previous term on the Assembly. Christianson, who has been on the Assembly for 12 years, said he was optimistic about winning the seat in the final count of the election ballots.
“I think I did about as expected,” he said. “I’m not at all surprised at how Chris (Ystad) did – I voted for him. It was a crowded field, with big issues. ... I’m looking forward to getting back to work on some of the bigger issues we have to deal with.”
Wein said he’s not counting on the absentee count changing the results, but will continue to be at Assembly meetings.
“It’s win-win for me,” he said. “The people who voted for me voted for me to sit on the Assembly and to them I’m grateful; and for those who didn’t vote for me they voted for me to be a Persons to be Heard and I’m happy to serve in either capacity.”
Ballot Prop. 2
Christianson also said he was pleased with the passage of the haulout question. He and Mosher co-sponsored the ordinance calling for a public vote to use the proceeds from the hospital building and property sale, toward a haulout at the industrial park. The ballot question followed other attempts at requests for proposals and federal grant applications. The funds from the sale were deposited into the Sitka Permanent Fund and required approval of voters to withdraw it.
“Now that we’ve passed the proposition, we have things to do: environmental assessment, planning, and building, and pursing grant funds,” he said. “It’s something I worked hard to make happen and I’m very happy it passed.”
Mosher and City Administrator John Leach also reacted to the big vote of approval on the haulout proposition.
“I think it’s great,” Mosher said. “I was actually really worried about it because I know a lot of people had some concerns. We still have all the absentee votes to count, but I think that’s a very good showing and the chances are it’s still going to pass. So I’m very encouraged. I’m very grateful.”
Leach said he was surprised by the decisive margin of approval, and, that with a funding source identified, he and other city staff will get to work immediately on a plan.
“It’s time for us as the city to get to work, get the team put together and start developing plans,” he said. That will include engineering, planning, gathering input from stakeholders, and “getting the shipyard moving.”
Leach said this is clearly a high priority for the community and he plans to move as quickly as possible.
“Can I guarantee that we’re going to have boats out of the water next summer?” he said. “OK, I can’t guarantee that but I can tell you it’s going to be a goal we’ll shoot for.”
Ballot Prop. 1
Kevin Knox, who did not run for re-election, watched the results coming in on Ballot Prop. 1, which he co-sponsored with Rebecca Himschoot and Mosher.
“The idea has grown over time in discussions with the superintendent and school officials with how it’s going to work, distributing the funds,” he said, “I think some of the ideas they have are really promising and really show that they’ve looked into how this will be an enhancement to the student activities and travel budgets for the school district.”
He said he sees the funds benefiting students who participate in all kinds of programs in all of the schools, and families with more than one kid participating in multiple activities a year.
“I’m excited to know they’re looking at how this will bring some equity,” Knox said.
He said the district is looking at putting together an activities advisory committee so the public can participate in how the activities fund will work.
Michelle Cleaver, owner of the Weed Dudes marijuana shop and an opponent of Prop. 1, said she is hoping for a better result after the count of absentees on Friday.
School Superintendent Frank Hauser said expanding opportunities and removing participation barriers was identified as a strategy during the strategic planning process.
If it passes, he said, “it will enable the district to make great strides toward that goal.”
