COIN FLIP IN WARNER SPRINGS DECIDES WINNER OF SEAT

Gene Doxey became the newest member of the Warner Springs school board Monday night — after a coin f lip.

Warner Springs Unified School District Board President Jeannean Rombal f lipped the coin at the board meeting to determine the winner in the contest between Doxey and Terry Cox for one of three board seats. They had tied with 352 votes each in the Nov. 3 election.

The candidates chose a coin f lip to break the tie.

Doxey called the winning “heads” — after the quarter was determined to have both a head and a tail — as Rombal tossed the coin and slapped it on the back of her palm in a room inside Warner Elementary School’s old library.

Doxey, 76, was on the

Warner Springs school board from 2006-14. The Pacific Beach native retired from a 32-year teaching career in Ramona.

He said he resigned from the school board in 2014 after becoming disillusioned with the way the district was being operated but decided to try his hand again to “try to bring the school district back to life with the uniqueness of what it is.”

During Monday’s meeting, he said he was interested in helping students and teachers by working with new school board members as well as with Warner Springs Superintendent Dave MacLeod, who started in 2017.

The Warner Springs school board vote totals, finalized on Dec. 3, marked the first certified tie that County Registrar of Voters Michael Vu said he could remember in 24 years of working elections.

Rombal let Doxey know that the board and district have been been making progress over the years and that many things have changed for the better since he was previously on the board.

“Gene Doxey comes to bar with a lot of experience,” Rombal said. “He was on the school board and was a teacher in Ramona for years. I value his input and his opinion think he has lot of experience that we can utilize and draw from.”

Doxey was officially sworn in Monday, along with incumbents Melissa Krogh and Melody Sees, both of whom won re-election.