Voter turnout 27-percent in municipal election

Wrangell's 2016 Municipal Election concluded last week, with results certified by a special meeting of the Borough Assembly on Monday.

The Canvass Board met October 6 to sort through and count additional ballots. Assembly members Dave Powell, Mark Mitchell and Becky Rooney comprised the board, which was supervised by Borough Clerk Kim Lane and election chair Sarah Whittlesey-Merritt.

Seventy-two ballots in addition to those cast on October 4 were considered, which included absentee or mailed-in votes and those deemed questionable. One of the 10 questionable ballots ended up being counted, with others deemed uncountable by state and local statutes due to the voters being registered elsewhere.

Of the 72, 55 absentee, one special needs, four mail-in and two faxed ballots were also approved for the count. With the new totals taken into account, the final results ultimately did not differ from those preliminarily reported directly after the election.

Mayor David Jack was reelected with 373 votes, with candidate Kipha Valvoda receiving 56. Julie Decker was reelected to another term on the Borough Assembly with 399 votes, and write-in candidate Patty Gilbert was elected to fill the other three-year seat with 180. By Tuesday all three had been sworn into office ahead of that evening's scheduled meeting

Running unopposed for one of two three-year seats on the Port Commission, incumbent John Yeager was reelected with 422 votes. Write-in candidate Gary Morrison was elected to the other seat with 96 votes.

Elected to two three-year terms on the School Board were incumbent Rinda Howell with 209 votes and Georgianna Buhler with 248 votes. Candidates Robert Rang and Scott Seddon received 188 and 156 votes, respectively.

On the Wrangell Hospital Board, two candidates ran unopposed and were elected for two, two-year unexpired seats. Incumbent Olinda White received 348 votes, and school superintendent Patrick Mayer received 300. In a close race for one four-year term on the board, incumbents Barbara Conine and Marlene Meissner received only five votes difference after all the votes were in, narrowing the six-vote difference of the preliminary count. Meissner was reelected with 207 votes to Conine's 202.

Voters also approved Proposition 1 by 376 votes to 57, decommissioning the Nolan Center Board.

Total turnout was at 27 percent, with 456 votes cast out of a pool of 1,685 voters.

A number of vacancies remain for appointed boards and committees. Two letters were received for the Planning and Zoning Commission, by current members Terri Henson and Apryl Hutchinson. Both were confirmed at Tuesday's Assembly meeting to serve until October 2019. One more vacancy remains on the commission, as well as one on the Parks and Recreation Board, two for the Convention and Visitors Board, and two for the Economic Development Committee. People willing to serve in any of these positions are invited to submit a letter of interest to Lane's office at City Hall.

With municipal elections concluded, absentee in-person voting for the upcoming general election on November 8 begins on October 24. Those wishing to cast their votes early can do so at City Hall during regular business hours, Monday through Friday.