Voters stay course in trustee races

SANDPOINT — Bonner County voters elected to stay the course Tuesday in contested trustee races for the Pend Oreille and East Bonner County Library districts.

Incumbent Pend Oreille Hospital District Trustee Scott Burgstahler fended off a challenge by Spencer Hutchings to retain his seat on the board. Burgstahler collected 2,450 votes compared to Hutchings’ 788. According to Bonner County Clerk Michael Rosedale, 3,238 votes were cast in this race.

In the East Bonner County Library District contest, incumbent Trustee Judy Meyers gathered 2,106 votes, beating out John Terrell and Robert Diderich, who won 1,769 votes and 739 votes, respectively. This race saw 4,614 ballots cast, according to unofficial final results.

Michael Lawrence Kendel won a six-year term on the Bayview Water & Sewer District’s board. Kendel beat Calvin Nolan 22-6 in the single-precinct contest which saw 28 votes cast.

In the Southside Water & Sewer District director race, Brett Babcock, Jack Howard Jr. received the most votes. Babcock picked up 101 votes and Howard won 81. Dianna Erickson finished with 51 and Michael L. Mooney finished with 43. Douglas Bopp prevailed in contest for a four-year term on Southside’s board. Bopp won 121 votes to Kass Larson’s 39.

In the Timberlake Fire Protection District, voters were asked to decide the fate of a permanent special tax levy of up to $290,000 per year. I The district, which spans both Bonner and Kootenai counties, saw the measure garner 31 yes votes in Bonner County and 427 yes votes in Kootenai County for a combined 458 votes in favor to a combined 306 no votes, 5 in Bonner County and 301 in Kootenai County.

In the Westside Fire Protection District, voters approved a request for a base budget increase of $152,000.

Voters in the district, which included the Airport, Baldy, Dover, Laclede, Washington and Wrenco precincts, passed the measure with 372 yes votes to 100 no votes.

In the Bayview Water and Sewer District, which includes areas in both Bonner and Kootenai counties, Calvin Nolan and Michael Lawerence Kendel vied for a six-year term on the board. In early voting, Kendel had 22 votes in Bonner County and 59 in Kootenai County for a combined 81 votes while Nolan had 6 votes in Bonner County and an additional 166 votes in Kootenai County for a combined 172 votes to claim the seat.

Voters in the Bayview Water and Sewer District, which spans both Bonner and Kootenai counties, rejected a measure by the district to issue water revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $2.15 million.

Once votes were tallied in both counties, the measure had a combined 174 no votes, 5 in Bonner County and 169 in Kootenai County, to 92 votes in favor, with 23 in Bonner County and 69 in Kootenai County.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.