BY BRANDY TUZON BOYDTHE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz
Election 2012 results may not be final, but at least one candidate is declaring victory in the 10-way race for three seats on the Natomas Unified school board.
“Obviously we want to wait for the final results,” candidate Ryan Herche said Wednesday. “There’s a remote possibility it could come out another way, but we’ve crunched the numbers and it seems improbable.”
With 46 out of 46 precincts reporting, unofficial Sacramento County election results list Natomas school board incumbent Susan Heredia in the lead with 3,714 votes, followed by Herche with 3,472 votes, and Scott Dosick with 3,308 votes. Candidate Karen Bernal is listed fourth with 3,102 votes.
“I’m really excited about the results thus far,” said Dosick. “I’m extremeley honored so many Natomas residents and voters expressed faith in me. As far as declaring victory, I want to wait until Sacramento County finishes tallying every vote.”
Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections on Wednesday continued counting vote-by-mail and provisional ballots. The Registrar estimated there are 193,000 ballots left to verify and process during the 28-day post election canvass period. Of this amount, 162,000 are vote-by-mail ballots and 31,000 are provisional ballots from polling places.
The next ballot count update is expected after 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9.
Heredia said she always waits until final results are announced. If elected, this will be Heredia’s fourth consecutive term on the Natomas school board.
“I’m excited about it,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of good things happening in the district.”
When Superintendent Chris Evans was hired to lead the Natomas Unified School District earlier this year, he said he realized there were going to be three seats up for election and started work on a transition plan for new board members. The first step: meeting one-on-one with each candidate prior to the election.
“It was a great to visit with each and every one of the candidates,” he said. “I was inspired and knew the district would be fine however voters decided.”
After Thanksgiving, Evans said district management leaders plan to give presentations to new school board members meant to get them up to speed. Also later this month, a new trustee workshop will be held at the California School Board Association conference in San Francisco.
“My hope is they (new school board members) would attend,” said Evans.
Natomas board members are scheduled to be sworn in during a meeting in December. In early 2013, Evans said, the California School Board Association is slated to provide governance training to the district and its board.
“I look forward to continuing the path the district is on and serving with the board members who are elected to continue to put kids first,” school board president Lisa Kaplan said. “It’s about the kids.”
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.