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The Victoria College. Full-time salaried position with benefits available...
DISTRICT "Champions for Community Wellness" has the following positions...
Both candidates received 581 votes in an unofficial count. Election administrator George Matthews said he could not remember another tie in Victoria in the past 20 years.
The candidates have the option of either withdrawing or mutually agreeing on a method of chance, such as tossing a coin, to decide who will serve on the board, Matthews said.
If neither of those circumstances occurs, the election office will conduct an automatic recount of the votes within five days of the board canvassing the returns, which will occur at the next school board meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday in the education center board room, 102 Profit Drive.
The recount will take about a full day. If the candidates are still tied after the recount, a runoff election will take place in about 45 days, Matthews said. The school district will absorb the cost of the second election, which will be about $10,000 to $12,000.
Keeling, a 46-year-old housewife, has served on the school board since 2005.
“It certainly highlights the importance of voting,” Keeling said. “I always thought the race would be close.”
Jaynes, a 61-year-old physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, said the resulting tie surprised him.
“We’ll just have to let the process play itself out,”Jaynes said. “I trust all parties involved so there will be an honest resolution that’s for the best.”
Incumbent Lou Svetlik, who just finished his second term, easily won the District 3 seat over Les Deuel. Svetlik, a 51-year-old chemical process operator and maintenance coordinator for DuPont, said he was pleased with the show of support from voters.
“I’m pleased that a majority of the voters agree that what the board and the district are trying to do are very good things for our kids and for the improvement of our school district,” Svetlik said. “I will work very hard to meet expectations.”
Svetlik received 520 votes to Deuel’s 199. Deuel is a 51-year-old retired teacher, salesperson and co-owner of Pizzaz.
“The voters have spoken, and the non-voters have spoken louder,” Deuel said.
About 6 percent of voters, or 3,146 people out of 52,248 registered voters, turned out for the local election.
Pamela Bond is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6578 or pbond@vicad.com, or comment on this story atwww.VictoriaAdvocate.com.