Voters repeal seasonal sales tax increase, elect Piscoya to Council

The unofficial, preliminary results of the Tuesday, Oct. 4 municipal elections in Nome indicate that Nome voters have repealed the seasonal sales tax and elected Cameron Piscoya as a new member of the Nome Common Council.

The only contested race in the municipal election was for seat E on the Nome Common Council, previously held for nearly 17 years by Jerald Brown. Brown did not run for re-election. Candidates for the seat were Derek McLarty and Cameron Piscoya, with Piscoya getting 279 votes; 109 votes went to McLarty and there were seven write-ins.

Proposition 1, a measure that asked the voters if the two percent sales tax increase in the summer months should be repealed, garnered 231 yes votes, to 156 no votes.

In the election for the Nome seat on the Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation’s board of directors, incumbent JT Sherman took 311 votes, to 80 votes that were cast for Derek McLarty.

Voters re-elected Derek McLarty to the NJUS board with 286 votes; 55 write ins.

Seat D of the NJUS board went to incumbent and only candidate Larry Pederson with 360 votes; 12 write ins.

Darlene Trigg was re-elected to School Board seat A with 338 votes, 29 write ins.

Marjorie Kunaq Tahbone, also a sole candidate, was elected to seat E on the School Board, previously held by Dr. Barb Amarok, who didn’t run for re-election.

These preliminary results don’t include questioned and absentee ballot counts.

According to City Clerk Bryant Hammond, there were 796 ballots cast, not counting questioned and absentee ballots. In total, 397 individual voters turned out to participate in the elections, out of 2,622 eligible and registered voters in Nome.

The Nome Common Council will canvass the election on Thursday, Oct. 6 at noon. The next Common Council meeting is rescheduled to Tuesday, Oct. 11, as the City observes Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Monday, Oct. 10 when the meeting normally would be taking place.