Special District Election: $6M school bond passing in Sheridan

Updated election results show the $6 million Sheridan School District bond measure is passing 579 (51.88%) to 537 (48.12%). The vote in Yamhill County is currently 540 (52.99%) in favor to 479 (47.01%) against, with the remainder of votes in Polk County.

The second run of results around 3 p.m. Wednesday was a turn in fortune for supporters of the bond, after initial results posted Tuesday evening showed the bond losing, with the initially Yamhill County tally 393 (51.51%) to 370 (48.49%) against approval.

Also passing is a Chemeketa Community College bond across the multi-county district 34,770 (51.65%) to 32,550 (48.35%). Yamhill County voters are slightly more in favor, 6,372 (54.76%) to 5,264 (45.24%).

Ballots will continue to be received from out of county, and local ballots post-marked by Tuesday and mailed in will be accepted through Tuesday, May 27, County Clerk Kari Hinton said. A final unofficial cumulative result will be posted on May 28.

The Sheridan bond proposed capital improvements and safety and security improvements at Sheridan High School and Faulconer-Chapman School. If passed, the district will receive a matching $6 million grant from the state.

Chemeketa Community College is seeking a $140 million bond that focuses on workforce development, aiming to expand education in the trades and construction, while providing additional space for apprenticeship programs.

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Current results in contested local school board races are:

Dayton: Incumbent Kraig Albright narrowly leads Marty Palacios 383 (50.66%) to 372 (49.21%) for Position 1; incumbent Terri Paysinger is winning against Roger Webb, 414 (54.91%) to 335 (44.43%) for Position 7.

Newberg: Incumbent Andy Byerley has 4,452 (63.60%) votes to challenger David Russ’ 2,540 (36.29%) in Zone 1.

Sheridan: Natalya Ablesis leads Susan Looby 398 (54.37%) to 318 (43.44%) for Position 1; Raymond Watkins is winning Position 5 over Gwen Fink, with 489 votes (59.06%) to 336 (40.58%). Both positions were open.

Willamina: In Position 3, Justine Flynn has a large lead over Yvonne Cerrato, 377 to 179 (30.56%). Flynn told the News-Register in April she planned to pull her candidacy; however, she remained on the ballot. No one filed for candidacy for Position 5, and currently winning with 18 write-in votes is Cerrato, followed by Flynn with 11.

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Current results in contested local fire board races are:

Dayton: Kara Ecker leads incumbent Chris Baker 356 (53.13%) to 311 (46.42%) for Position 2.

Yamhill: Craig Sauers will win a three-way race for Position 1, currently with 609 votes (63.37%) to 177 (18.42%) for Brian Woodruff and 174 (18.11%) for incumbent Jon Peasley; as will Tom Bernards in Position 4, who is leading incumbent Jim Phillips 620 (64.25%) to 345 (35.75%).

Also being decided are three at-large seats on the Chehalem Park and Recreation Board in a race featuring five candidates. Currently in line to win is Jim McMaster with 4,844 votes (26.67%), Brandon Slyter with 3,841 (21.15%) and Nick Konen with 3,683 (20.28%), while Ty Darby and Rob Smith trail with 2,876 (15.83%) and 2,773 (15.27%) votes, respectively.