As Kamala Harris prepared to concede the presidential election to Donald Trump on Wednesday morning, three Scotts Valley candidates continued to pull away from the crowded pack in the contest for three available City Council seats.
Out of 5,634 votes, incumbent Council member Donna Lind was at 22.79% (2,809 votes), followed by Steve Clark at 18.88% (2,327 votes) and Krista Jett at 17.83% (2,197 votes). Trailing were Corky Roberson at 11.91% (1,468), Mercedes Molloy at 10.35% (1,275), John Lewis at 9.69% (1,194) and Dustin Lopez at 8.28% (1,021).
There were 33 write-in votes tallied.
This means, as the country as a whole shifts to the right, there will be two former police officers—Lind (a former Scotts Valley Police Department sergeant) and Clark (Santa Cruz County Police Department’s former deputy chief)—at the helm of Scotts Valley.
Roberson, a food sales rep, had been promoted in advertisements alongside the top two vote-getters.
However, it seemed increasingly unlikely he would catch up to Jett, a nurse. Her vote share continued to increase as election officials counted incoming ballots.
During the campaign, Jett promised to promote “thoughtful” urban development, adopt a collaborative approach to dealing with challenging issues and provide resources and opportunities to children. She also made the point that Lind has been the only woman on a body that’s otherwise been made up of men.
As polls closed, Fifth District Supervisor candidate Monica Martinez was hanging out on the second floor of Bruno’s Bar and Grill in Scotts Valley with a sizable contingent that included multiple other candidates for political office.
“We just had so many community members come out to support the campaign,” she told the Press Banner. “We just did everything we could.”
One table over was Lewis, who was running for Scotts Valley Council. Sitting next to his wife and son, he was refreshing the County’s votescount.us results page, nervously awaiting the initial tally.
“You’re not sure if you won or lost,” he said, of the feelings that are just part of the deal—as other, less consequential, prizes were being given out. “I’m really just hoping to win this raffle.”
Lewis has been thinking a lot about the game Tetris recently—about how, when you’re successful, the evidence of the obstacle just disappears, and how you can’t help but think about the opportunities you missed.
And, as if on cue, his number—8972—was called out. He was awarded the book, “Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)” by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson.
The initial count showed Martinez had developed an early lead of 2,630 votes (with 9,517 votes—an 57.89% vote share), ahead of her opponent Christopher Bradford, who was at 41.89% (with 6,887 votes).
He’d closed the gap slightly by Wednesday morning, reaching 43.47% (8,509 votes) compared to Martinez’s 56.28% (11,017 votes)—still a healthy 2,508-vote lead.
Lind was also at the Martinez watch party, and noted she was pretty confident about her chances.
“I felt a lot of support,” she said.
Actually, it was the Measure X business license tax she was more worried about.
On Wednesday, it was at 71.89% support (3,741 votes).
“We need it,” Lind said, of the measure, which just needed a majority to pass.
On the other hand, the hopes of passing the Scotts Valley Unified School District bond (Measure O) seemed to be slipping away. It needed 55% to pass, and was at 54.49%, but this had dipped to 53.75% by Wednesday.
The Scotts Valley Fire District bond (Measure S) was doing even worse. It had just 61.24% support (5,666 votes), when it would need to be at 66.67% to pass.
The Bonny Doon Elementary School District seemed to be on track with its ask of voters. By Wednesday morning, Measure L had raked in 864 votes, for a 67.03% share (it needs 55% to pass).
Daron L. Pisciotta, Michael Weaver and Ron Whittle were leading in the race for three Scotts Valley Fire Protection District director slots by a solid margin.
For Scotts Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees, where three seats are available, Stephanie Espinola was in first at 19.48% with 3,146 votes, followed by Gary Redenbacher, who was maintaining his 18.88% position (3,050 votes).
However, current president Michael Shulman was now at risk of being defeated, as he was in a literal tie with Erica B. Turzak, with both at 18.19%—each claiming 2,938 votes. Shulman had been leading slightly on Tuesday night. Mitali Hindia Weiglein was at 15.37% of the vote with 2,483 votes and Tuka Gafari was at 9.46% with 1,528 votes.
Meanwhile, Alina Layng and Bryan Largay were well ahead in the contest for two San Lorenzo Valley Water District director seats.
Measure U, the San Lorenzo Valley Water Fixed Charge Ordinance, needed a majority to pass. On Wednesday, it appeared to have been roundly rejected by voters, with just 35.99% support (3,448 votes).
As results continued to roll in, support for a constitutional right to marriage regardless of sex or race dipped below 80% (from Tuesday night’s 80.36% to 79.15%), with 20.85% of people in the county (19,287) expressing opposition to this change at the ballot box.
The Boulder Creek Fire Protection District director race was pretty close, with Robert Locatelli out in front (at 29.73%), with Chris Currier in second (24.81%) and David Scruggs at 23.29% in third (with three seats available)—though Vince Y. Cortina’s Sr. wasn’t that far behind (at 21.8%).
Out of a pack of seven for Felton Fire Protection District Director (with three openings), Mike Shults was leading, at 18.43%, followed by Erica Schwanbeck at 17.24% and Doug Conrad in third at 15.8%—followed by Judy Anderson at 14.79%.
Pausing for a moment before joining the crowd of revelers at Bruno’s, Scotts Valley Mayor Randy Johnson (who’s decided to retire) encouraged election losers to stay engaged in the civic process, perhaps by joining commissions and committees.
“To the winners,” he said, “look back at the things you promised and try to fulfill some of those things.”
