Dead heat: Council, school board races tied

Forty-seven absentee ballots counted Nov. 13 failed to break the tie between Friday Harbor Town Council candidates Wally Gillette and Howie Rosenfeld. The ballots also erased San Juan School Board candidate Robert Mancuso’s six-vote lead over Bryn Barnard.

Gillette and Rosenfeld are tied with 259 votes. One write-in vote was received.

Mancuso and Barnard have 1,171 votes. Four write-ins were received.

The Canvass Board meets Nov. 19 to review the ballots. The election will be certified Nov. 21. If the races are 1/2 of 1 percent apart, then a recount will be conducted on Nov. 28 and the recount results certified no later than Nov. 29.

“In the event of a tie, the result will be determined by a flip of a coin,” Sandy Gillespie said.

The Canvass Board consists of County Commission Chairman John Evans, County Auditor Si Stephens and County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord. They will review each ballot and ensure each is legitimate.

Gillette was prophetic in his election night pronouncement that “It’s still anybody’s race.” Rosenfeld has said the election results are “waking

me up at night.” He expressed concern about voter apathy because of the low turnout.

“I sure campaigned a lot harder than I ever did,” he said in an earlier interview. “You only do what you can do. The percentage of the turnout was

below 50 percent. Apathy is tough to beat.”

The tie vote means neither Barnard nor Mancuso will attend the Washington State School Directors meeting in Spokane this week. Barnard said the school district suggested they both go at their own expense and the winner would be reimbursed.

For educational purposes, local governments sometimes send newly elected officials to meetings related to their new jobs. The Friday Harbor Port Commission is expected to vote Nov. 14 to send Commissioner-elect Mike Ahrenius to the Washington Public Ports Association’s seminar for new commissioners.

School board

Running the San Juan Island School District is big business. Its $6

million annual budget supports four schools, 912 students and roughly 60

teachers and staff members.

During the campaign, Barnard said he would work to eliminate corporate sponsorship in public schools. "I worked for an advertising agency and I can tell you they care a whole lot about establishing brand recognition. They don't care much about educating your children." Barnard told of finding a cereal flier in his child's textbook. "There's no place for that in public schools."

Barnard has lived here six years and has a daughter in sixth-grade and a son in fourth. He said public school is a place "that binds us together … Social skills are broadened and empathy for others is deepened. "

He and Mancuso agree that the Washington Assessment of Student Learning — or WASL — should not be the standard for student achievement.

"It's only one measure of a student's ability," Barnard said.

Mancuso said, "A standardized test is a benchmark, a point of comparison, but don't look for any information beyond that."

Mancuso said he would like the district to expand its offering of advanced placement courses, and would not discourage students from participating in Running Start. Mancuso said the district should provide teachers with training opportunities and incentives to develop new curriculum.

Town Council race

The Town Council is facing some major projects in the next four years: Financing and construction of the wastewater treatment plant tops the list. To solve downtown’s parking woes, Mayor Gary Boothman is trying to cobble together a funding package so the town can buy the Browne Lumber Co. site on Spring Street.

In addition, Town Adminstrator King Fitch said old sewer and water pipes need to be replaced under Spring Street, and 50-year-old water pipes leading from Trout Lake need to be replaced.

Gillette believes his engineering background is important to the council in the next four years. He's concerned about the high cost of water, sewer service and taxes. He's not sure what the solutions are, but he points to individual pride-in-community as the cornerstone in the town's ability to solve problems.

Gillette supports affordable home ownership because "when you own something, you take more pride in it and take better care of it." Gillette believes pride in the town will do more to protect trees than a tree preservation ordinance initially proposed by Hedda King, who he hopes to replace on the council.

“The (proposed) ordinance may have scared people into chopping down trees," Gillette said of the trees cut next to Friday Harbor Market Place.

“A person living in this town, who has pride in this town, is not going to clear cut. (Preservation) would be tough to legislate."

Rosenfeld believes he’s more suited for the council job because of his experience on the island. He was executive director of The Whale Museum in 1985-87. He was a District 3 firefighter for 13 years and a town firefighter for five. He served as Friday Harbor's last volunteer fire chief in 1994-98, and proposed consolidating the island and town fire departments. He’s now a member of the town Planning Commission.

He ran for County Commission in 1996, and lost a race for Town Council by 27 votes in 1999.

"I know what's going on. I will be effective the very first day," Rosenfeld said of his candidacy. "I'm independent. I want to represent the residents of the town and protect residents from special interests."

Rosenfeld also supports affordable home ownership programs and creation of more downtown parking.

— For updated election information, visit Elections

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