With the Election, 2009 ballots tabulated to date (next tabulation, Nov. 4 @ 6pm), these are the results of local note:

1. Karen Valenzuela is ahead 56% to 44% for County Commissioner and by an-almost 6,000 vote difference.

2. Jeff Davis is ahead of Dave Peeler for Port Commissioner 55% to 45%.

3. The big surprise of the night so far is Yelm City Council candidate Tracey Wood’s 54% lead over Jen Littlefield’s 46%, though there is only a 50 vote difference so far.

4. The City of Yelm tabulated some interesting results in non-contested races:
523 votes have been counted so far for Mayor Ron Harding, who garnered 848 votes 4 years ago, against an opponent. HMMM!
Of the 523 voters that voted for Mayor Harding, only 465 of those voters cast a vote for Mayor Pro-tem Bob Isom, 477 for Mike McGowan and 500 for Russ Hendrickson, all who ran for their uncontested seats.
That is VERY INTERESTING!

The Thurston County Auditor reports a 36% countywide voter turnout so far and is hoping for a 60% voter turnout. That will not be the case in Yelm, as usual!

With only 523 voting here so far on local races of the less than the official number of 2,663 registered voters and 5,500 in population, that is consistent with previous voter turnouts in previous Yelm elections – less than 20% voter participation. That is truly sad…

Of course, this Mayor and City Council have done little to reach out to the population here:
holding ZERO Town Forums to share their views with the community & foster genuine intra-community understandings.
Only a handful of people came to the Mayor and City Council spoke out about the water rate increase.
And, you are about to get fleeced more with these elected officials!
Next week, the City Council will be asked to vote on condemnation of a citizen’s water rights.

Expect more of the same contempt for the public in the next 4 years, as the failed policies of this city’s administration continue to “come home to roost.”

And to the City of Yelm residents:
the lack of interest displayed in voting & lack of participation in your city’s government is a true embarrassment!