Regional Fire Authority vote gains in Aberdeen, loses ground in Hoquiam

Most council races decided, two incumbents fall in Aberdeen

By Dan Hammock • November 5, 2021 1:30 am
The Aberdeen-Hoquiam RFA measure is passing by a slight margin in Aberdeen and failing in Hoquiam after the second round of general election ballots were counted Friday, Nov. 5. Both cities’ firefighters unions support the measure. (Courtesy image)
The Aberdeen-Hoquiam RFA measure is passing by a slight margin in Aberdeen and failing in Hoquiam after the second round of general election ballots were counted Friday, Nov. 5. Both cities’ firefighters unions support the measure. (Courtesy image)

The Aberdeen and Hoquiam regional fire authority measure is hanging on by a thread after the second count of general election ballots on Friday.

The measure, which would combine the fire departments and EMS of the two cities into the Central Grays Harbor Regional Fire Authority, needs 60% of the total vote in both cities combined to pass. On Friday, Aberdeen voters were passing the measure with just under 61% yes votes. Hoquiam voters so far have cast less than 58% of their votes in favor of the measure.

There is also the additional requirement that turnout from both cities reaches 40% of that of the last general election, meaning 2,757 in Aberdeen and 1,524 in Hoquiam. Hoquiam has reached that mark by a handful of votes, Aberdeen is falling short so far by more than 250 voters.

According to the county auditor’s site, 15,312 ballots have been counted, with an estimated 2,100 left for the next count, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 10. Voter turnout stands at just under 31%.

Aberdeen City Council

Incumbent Melvin Taylor cemented his win over challenger Kimberly Strom with 58% of the vote in Ward 1 Position 1. In Ward 3 Position 5, incumbent Liz Ellis defeated challenger Norman Klein 55%-44%. Marissa Aube extended her lead and appears to have defeated Antara Croft in Ward 4 Position 7 with a tally of 363-326.

In Ward 5 Position 10 and Ward 6 Position 11, the incumbents have lost to their challengers: Alan Richrod by a wide margin — 70%-30% — to challenger Debi Ann Pieraccini in the former, Frank Gordon to challenger David Lawrence — 60%-40% — in the latter.

Hoquiam City Council

Ward 2 Position 4 incumbent Jim George easily defeated challenger Dennis J. Carpenter. The race for Ward 4 Position 7 remains too close to call, with challenger Jamie Brand leading incumbent Greg Grun by four votes — Brand led Grun by two votes on election night.

Ocean Shores City Council

The race for Position 1 has tightened some, but after Friday’s count challenger Eric Noble is the apparent winner with 1,574 votes to incumbent Susan Conniry’s 1,341. Incumbent Lisa Scott retained her Position 5 seat, defeating challenger Patrick Daugherty 56%-44%. In Position 7, Rich Hartman has taken the seat with 1,518 votes to Patric Hayes’ 1,344.

Montesano City Council

Rollin Caryl defeated Valerie Jester by 85 votes for the Position 2 seat. The race for Position 3 has tightened, with incumbent Ian Cope trailing challenger Holly Shuck by nine votes. Cope trailed by 21 votes on election night. In Position 6, incumbent Tyler Trimble has increased the lead over challenger Brooke Chapman-Hoiness to 45 votes; the lead election night was 34 votes.

Cosmopolis City Council

Position 4 easily went to challenger Cody Bridges, who defeated incumbent Debbie Moran 58%-42%. It’s a tight race for Position 5, with incumbent Mile Wenzel leading challenger Jonathan Bennet by 12 votes out of 350 total cast.

Other races

There are school board, fire district, hospital district and many other races on this year’s ballot. For election results, go to results.vote.wa.gov/results/20211102/graysharbor/.