Voter turnout low this election cycle
Less than 16 percent of eligible Auglaize County voters made it to the polls Tuesday, where many voters faced ballots containing nothing but uncontested races.
For those who had to make choices, Waynesfield residents will see new faces around council’s table in January, St. Marys has a new treasurer, two township trustee races were decided and fire and EMS levies were approved.
Here’s a roundup of county election results:
Council races
In a competitive field, Waynesfield voters chose Jesselyn Winegardner (109 votes), Timothy Walti (94), Deborah Ball (92) and William Motter (84) for seats on the village council out of a pool of seven candidates. The four are newcomers to the elected office although Motter had held a seat on council in the past.
Rhonda Knox (41), Scott Newland (36) and Vicki Zimmerman (71) were the other candidates In another contested race out of Minster, Curt Albers (634 votes), Craig Oldiges (633), Travis Wilges (615) and Craig Sherman (575) were voted to seats on the village council. Forest Kiztmiller earned 299 votes in his unsuccessful bid for a seat on council.
The St. Marys treasurer’s race was contested; Frank Thomas won with 463 votes to Kathy Fleagle’s 437 votes.
Also contested was the race for second ward representative. Top vote-getter was Ashley Randolph with 204 votes. She defeated David Lunz, 133 votes, and Kyle Schmehl, 81 votes.
James Harris was uncontested in his race for president of St. Marys City Council. Robert Fitzgerald, Todd Fleagle and Dan Uhlenhake were elected as at-large members for St. Marys city council in uncontested races. Also uncontested were John Bubp, first ward; James Christman, third ward; and Robin Willoughby, the fourth ward.
Stephen Henderson was voted president of the Wapakoneta City Council, while Barbara Steinke ran unopposed for treasurer.
Grant Neal ran unopposed for city director of law for the city.
Terry Campbell, Chad Dunlap and John Sheipline were voted as at-large members for Wapakoneta City Council, while Ross Kantner (first ward), Dan Lee (second ward), Brandon Miller (third ward) and Chad Doll (fourth ward) all ran unopposed to be members of the council.
In Buckland, Scott May, David Spradlin, Adrian Sunday and Jessica Wegesin were all voted to the village council. Penny Neil was also voted to the council for a term that will end at the end of 2023.
In Cridersville, Dylan Lauck, Dorance Thompson and Eric West were all re-elected for the village town council. Because Rick Allen will retire at the end of this year, the council will need to fill a fourth seat.
In New Bremen, Dennis Burnell, Dan Condon, Tess Elshoff and
Jessica Lomakin were elected council members.
In New Knoxville, Carolyn Bock, Brian Jones and Duane Steinecker were elected to village council. A fourth seat will need to be filled.
Township Races
Among the plethora of township races only Logan and German township voters were faced with making choices.
In German Township, top vote-getters were Robert Heitkamp, 362 votes, and David Albers, 347 votes. They defeated Mike Varno, who earned 147 votes.
In Logan Township, Sam Kellerman received 176 votes, while Mark Lee receive, 204 votes as
both were elected as trustees, defeating Todd Place with 94 votes.
Uncontested township trustee races included: Clay: Anthony Elsass and Jerry Shipp;
Duchouquet: Rick Place and Dwight Steinke; Goshen: Brian Myers and Kip Wilcox’ Jackson: Kenneth A. Sommer and James Steinemann;
Moulton: Dean Kentner and Patrick Schneider;
Noble: Grant Shaner and Brian Cook;
Pusheta: John Kaeck and Jim Schaub;
Salem: Jeff Pratte and Richard Seibert;
St. Marys: Chad Elshoff and Allen J. Imwalle; Union: Kelly Knutzen and Mark Waitman; Washington: Tim Becher and Nick J. Schoenlein;
Wayne: Kevin Sidener and Larry W. Sutherland.
Boards of Education
For Wapakoneta Central School District, Brian Cossel and Gregg Ruppert were both elected to the school board.
In the St. Marys School District Karl Dammeyer, Chris Falk and Ron Wilker were elected to the board of education.
Minster Local School District voters elected Richard Bruns, Nick Rentz and Sandra Schulze to the board of education.
In New Bremen, Michelle Bambauer Shelly Busse and Suzanne Wells were elected board members.
In New Knoxville Local School District Ryan Miltner and Shawn Egbert were elected.
Matthew Dwenger and Holly Turner were both elected as members of the Auglaize ESC Governing Board along with Mark Francis.
David Mayer and Jo Mcconnell were also elected to the ESC board.
Levies
A number of townships were asking for fire levies and all had successful results. Voters in the following districts approved:
* New Knoxville, a five-year, 2-mill levy renewal for fire and EMS, by a 114-14 vote margin;
* Minster, a three-year, 3-mill levy renewal for fire and EMS, by a 695-90 vote margin;
* Jackson Township, a three year, 3-mill levy renewal for fire and EMS, bu a 145-18 vote margin;
* Logan Township, a continuing 1-mill replacement levy for fire and EMS, by a 214-61 vote margin;
* Washington Township, a five-year, 2-mill renewal for fire and EMS, by a 108 to 19 vote margin;
* Wayne Township, an additional five-year, 0.7-mill levy for cemetery maintenance, by a 162 to 109 margin;
* Wayne Township, a five-year, 2-5-mill renewal for emergency services, by a 219 to 53 vote margin
Voters in the Minster School District overwhelmingly approved a five-year, 1.05-mill renewal
with 671 votes for the levy and 275 against.
(Reporters Alex Guerrero, Bob Tomaszewski and Deb Zwez contributed to this article.)