Along with the Derek Timm-Allan Timms slate’s strong performance at the polls, Tuesday night, both of the school board candidates they supported appeared poised for victory, too.

By Wednesday, teacher Lucia Rocha-Nestler had grabbed the largest share of the Scotts Valley Unified School District Board vote (34.96%) with 1,658 votes, with incumbent Roger Snyder in second place (29.16%) with 1,383 votes.

Meanwhile, Patricia Adams had brought in 1,079 votes (22.75%), while the other incumbent, Corey Warner, managed 604 votes (12.74%).

During a speech to supporters at the Four Points by Sheraton in Scotts Valley, Rocha-Nestler told a story about how meaningful it was to her to be able to speak in Spanish to local realtor Robert Aldana when she moved to town last year and bumped into him.

“Whatever happens, we’re not going away,” she said.

Just before the result came out, Snyder admitted he was a ball of nerves.

“I feel like we ran a great campaign—clean and thoughtful,” he said. “I’m optimistic.”

The morning after polling stations closed, the “Yes” vote was leading 55.27% (938 votes) to 44.73% (759 votes) in the parcel tax measure that would provide funding for the Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District. However, it would need a two-thirds majority to pass.

For the Boulder Creek Fire Protection District Director, Sammy Robustelli was ahead with 954 votes (34.65%), followed by Robert Louis Presswood, who had 805 votes (29.24%), then Vince Y. Cortinas, Sr. with 666 votes (24.19%) and David Dunning with 321 votes (11.66%). The top two vote-getters will win seats.

Down in Felton, Jim Anderson was leading the race for Felton Fire Protection District Director with 778 votes (49.12%), compared with 633 votes for Norman Crandell (39.96%) and 172 votes for Adam Hensleigh (10.86%). The top two vote-getters will win seats in this election.

It was a tight race for San Lorenzo Valley Water District Director. As of press time, Mark Smolley has secured 2,418 votes (27.83%), followed by Jeffrey Hill at 2,134 votes (24.56%), Bob Fultz at 2,094 votes (24.1%) and Alina Layng at 2,006 (23.08%). The top three vote-getters will win seats.

In Tuesday night results for the single San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District seat up for grabs, incumbent Gail Levine had a healthy margin over Ryan Lipert—with 1,898 votes (62.37%) to Ryan Lipert’s 1,121 (36.84%). However, by the next day, Levine’s lead had narrowed to just 58.05% (2,278 votes) to Lipert’s 41.18% (1,616). 

According to the County Elections Department, the next update to the voting tally will come today at 4pm.

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Drew Penner is an award-winning Canadian journalist whose reporting has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Good Times Santa Cruz, Los Angeles Times, Scotts Valley Press Banner, San Diego Union-Tribune, KCRW and the Vancouver Sun. Please send your Los Gatos and Santa Cruz County news tips to [email protected].

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