Middletown Unified’s $38 million school bond had 606 yes votes and 504 no votes in Lake County’s election-night results, posted at 3:47 a.m. Wednesday. That’s 54.59%. Measure C needs 55% to pass, which at the current total would take 611 yes votes.
The county’s count covers 7,757 ballots, 20.41% of its 38,000 registered voters. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day count if they arrive by Nov. 10, and counties must report final results to the state by Dec. 4, according to the Secretary of State. In the last midterm general election, in 2022, Lake County’s certified count reached 20,362 ballots, 54.79% of registered voters.
Measure C’s projects and cost
Measure C would let the district borrow up to $38 million to repair or replace roofs, replace heating and air-conditioning systems, build or improve science, agriculture and career-technical buildings, and replace portables with permanent classrooms, according to the measure in the voter pamphlet. The ballot question puts the tax at about $49 per $100,000 of assessed value, about $2,155,000 a year.
Superintendent Jeff Crane’s tax statement estimates total repayment, principal and interest, at about $77,562,917, with the last tax expected to be collected in fiscal year 2061-62. Board President Zoi Bracisco, Middletown Rancheria Chairman Jose Simon III and Kurtis Woodard signed the argument in favor. No argument against was submitted.
In-person voters liked the bond more than mail voters did, 57.24% yes to 53.63%. The district has 6,422 registered voters, and 1,179 of their ballots are counted.
No candidates for Clearlake treasurer
Clearlake’s Measure D leads 493 to 473, 51.04%. It needs a simple majority. It would make the city treasurer an appointed job instead of an elected one, according to the city attorney’s impartial analysis.
No one qualified to run for treasurer this year, the city clerk’s candidate list shows. The treasurer line on the ballot drew 57 write-in votes for people who weren’t qualified write-in candidates. If Measure D passes, votes cast for treasurer are void and the council appoints someone. In the argument in favor, Mayor Dirk Slooten wrote that the office “has not been filled by an elected City Treasurer in nearly two decades” and that city staff already do the work.
Mail voters backed Measure D 349 to 306. In-person voters opposed it 167 to 144.
City councils
In Clearlake, where two seats are open, Dean Clark leads with 408 votes, followed by incumbent Russell Cremer with 380. Zabdy Neria has 346, Alvaro Valencia 338 and Carlos Ramos 294. Cremer is the only incumbent in the race.
In Lakeport, incumbents Brandon Disney and Stacey Mattina are five votes apart, 399 to 394, for the two seats. Carl Ross Porter, listed as a retired teacher on the city’s candidate list, has 257.
Incumbents behind
In the Lake County Fire Protection District, where two seats are open, retired fire captain Adam Wade Clanton leads with 760 votes. Diane M. Watson has 728, and Denise Loustalot is third with 485. Both are listed as incumbents on the county’s special district candidate list.
In Upper Lake Unified, where three seats are open, Valerie J. Duncan leads with 536, followed by Sara M. Sanchez with 397 and Ben Guenther with 354. Diane Tomkins Plante has 283, two votes ahead of Caitlynn Decker, and Joanne Breton is last with 208. Plante and Breton are listed as incumbents on the county’s school candidate list.
In the Clearlake Oaks County Water District, attorney Christine “Chris” Gardas leads for two full-term seats with 193, followed by A. Donald Whittier, listed on the county’s candidate list as a water district director, with 160. Incumbent Stan Archacki has 120. For the short-term seat, Mary Oyler leads James L. Crozier 168 to 122, with Jeff Lafrance at 52.
Other races
In Lakeport Unified, Elizabeth A. Horat has 716 and Camille Rose Sanchez 642 for two seats, with Jared Himenes at 465.
In Lake County’s count for Mendocino-Lake Community College District Trustee Area 6, incumbent Lorree Ellen Lewis Crandell leads Derek Tippit 897 to 740. In the Northshore Fire Protection District’s Nice zone, incumbent John T. Barnette leads Alicia Russell 179 to 85.
Among Lake County ballots, Democrat Xavier Becerra leads Republican Steve Hilton for governor 4,325 to 3,382, and Democrat Mike McGuire leads Republican James Gallagher 3,977 to 3,066 in the county’s part of the 1st Congressional District.
All results are unofficial, and mail ballots that arrive by Nov. 10 can still count.
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