Levies voted down, incumbents voted out
Yellow Springs voters voted down a school levy Tuesday and many newcomers will now be in positions school boards and council in Greene County next year, according to unofficial election results from the Greene County Board of Elections.
All races are unofficial at this point, as county boards of election still have to process a small number of provisional ballots and any valid but late-arriving absentee ballots. Any races that are within half a percentage point at that time go to an automatic recount before the results are certified.
Yellow Springs
Voters voted down the Yellow Springs school levy on Tuesday, which would have funded a new $35.6 million K-12 building.
In a year marked elsewhere by low turnout, more than half of the village (2,066 voters) weighed in: 61% against the levy and 39% in favor.
The levy drew controversy over not just the cost but also fears from some villagers that its passing would cause a chain of events that could mean unwanted development at the current elementary greenspace.
The proposed income and property taxes would have translated to $250 per year in income tax for someone with $50,000, and $227.50 per year for the owner of a
$100,000 home.
In 2018, Yellow Springs also voted down another levy with a wider 64%-36% margin.
In addition, villagers elected three new school board members Judith Hempfling (1,170 votes) and Amy Magnus (1,070 votes), who ran on a slate against the levy, as well as Dorothee Bouquet (1,053 votes), according to the unofficial results. Pamela Nicodemus (921 votes) and Luisa Bieri Rios (999 votes), who ran on a slate with Bouquet, lost.
Village Council incumbents Kevin Stokes (1,035
votes) and village council president Brian Housh (834 votes) kept their seats and newcomer and longtime villager Carmen (Brown) Lee (724 votes) will join the board. Incumbent Laura Curliss (535 votes) lost her seat. Newcomers Lindsay Burke (657 votes), Scott Osterholm (310 votes), and Issa Walker (550 votes) also didn’t garner enough votes.
Fairborn City Council
No incumbents ran for Fairborn city council.
Adam Fritzsche, Rodney McCubbins and Mary Reaster will be the new representatives for Fairborn city council. Fritzsche received 1,879 votes; McCubbins received 1,629, and Reaster received 1,752, according to unofficial results.
Candidates Jerry Guess received 1,578 votes, and Daniel Palmer Jr. 1,501.
Xenia
In Xenia, a slate of incumbents were reelected to city council, while a slate of newcomers were elected to the Xenia board of education.
Current Xenia mayor Sarah J. Mays kept her seat. About 60% of votes cast were for her, according to unofficial results.
Xenia voters also reelected Levi Dean, and Will Urschel to their seats on city council for four-year terms, and Wesley Smith for an unexpired term. Dean received 2,428 votes and Urschel received 2,258 votes. Ethan Reynolds, a third candidate, received 1,727 votes.
Smith garnered 1,963 votes, defeating newcomer Jeremy Cox.
Xenia school board candidates Joshua Day (3,444 votes), Mary M. Grech (2,478 votes) and George W. Leightenheimer (2,232 votes) won seats on Xenia school board. Newcomer Heather Lee (1,983), incumbents Cheryl Marcus (1,987) and Mary Adeline R. Lewis (1,821), and finally newcomer Michael Leipold (971 votes), trailed behind.
Bellbrook
One of the two Bellbrook-Sugarcreek school board races flipped Wednesday morning when the Greene County Board of Elections updated its count.
With three seats available, Audra Dorn and Mike Kinsey got the most votes and will be elected. Heidi Anderson received 2,020 votes for the third and final spot, ahead of longtime school superintendent Keith St. Pierre, who got 1,975 votes.
In documents the board of elections had posted late Tuesday night, St. Pierre held a narrow lead over Anderson. BOE director Alisha Beeler said Wednesday that races containing write-in candidates (like this one) had not been fully “adjudicated” as of Tuesday night.
Beavercreek
Beavercreek School Board member Krista Hunt (7,412 ) and school board president JoAnn Rigano (6,915) kept their seats on the Beavercreek school board alongside newcomer Carl H. Fischer (5,740 votes), defeating challenger Allison Lindsay.
Bath Twp.
Bath Twp. incumbent trustees Tom Pitstick and Steve Ross lost their seats to newcomer Michelle Clements and Fairborn city councilman Rob Hoffman.
Hoffman received 2,544 votes out of 7,154 total, and Clements received 2,526, according to unofficial results. Pitstick received just 932 votes and Ross received 1,152.
Pitstick is leasing land to a biodigester company, Renergy Inc., that has drawn the ire of residents in the township because of the smell it causes and Ross was part of unsuccessful negotiations with the company over the summer.
Jamestown
In Jamestown, with four village council seats available, Anita Chaney, Jonathan Crosswhite and Joel Armlovich were the top vote-getters. Kyle Calhoun is currently listed in the fourth seat, with 174 votes, while Lefonda Sue McDaniel is fifth with 173 votes, according to the Greene County Board of Elections.