Wednesday, November 7th, 2007

Mercer County Jail tax barely passes

Provisional vote count could overturn results

By Timothy Cox
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey and Auditor Mark Giesige discuss election returns at the courthouse Tuesday night. County voters approved a 0.5 percent sales tax to build a new jail by a slim margin. About 43 percent of the county's 26,000 registered voters - 11,148 - turned out for Tuesday's election.

Mercer County voters approved a 0.5 percent sales tax to build a new jail by a razor-thin margin - with enough votes still left to be counted that the issue is still statistically a tossup.
In unofficial vote totals, 5,426 voters favored the sales tax while 5,356 voted against it. Elections officials could not immediately say Tuesday evening if the 50.32 to 49.68 percent margin (70 votes) would trigger an automatic recount.
About 43 percent of the county's 26,000 registered voters - 11,148 - turned out for Tuesday's election.
The vote total includes absentee ballots but does not include approximately 160 provisional ballots. Those votes won't be counted until Nov. 17, when elections officials will determine the eligibility of each voter and whether the votes should be counted.
County officials were pleased with the outcome, however slim the margin. Of the 160 provisional votes, 116 would have to cast votes against the tax issue to overturn its current passage.
"I'm glad that people went out and voted. The commissioners and I wanted to hear from them," Sheriff Jeff Grey said Tuesday night. "I would have liked a little more decisive answer, but we'll see for sure how it shakes out."
"It's a lot closer than I would have liked to have seen, but we live in a society where the majority rules," Commissioner Jerry Laffin said.
If the vote in favor of the sales tax is certified, the county would build a $12 million, 100-bed detention facility on county-owned land just west of the county home on state Route 29 west of Celina. The county's current jail - built in 1939 - is certified to hold only 15 prisoners.
The 15-year tax issue will raise about $1.7 million annually that would be used to retire the debt on a new jail and pay the increased operating costs of a larger lockup.
While Grey lamented the extremely close vote, he also took some solace that the issue passed the first time it was put before voters. Similar efforts in other counties routinely fail the first time around, he said.
"We have went slow throughout this whole process so that people have all the information," Grey said. "Even now, we're going to be careful we don't get in a hurry because $12 million is an awful lot of money."
The next step will be to contact the facility's architects so they can resume the design of the facility. Only schematic drawings have been done so far; the county held off on paying for construction blueprints and final engineering until voters approved the tax issue.
The new jail likely would not open until late 2009 or early 2010, Grey and Laffin said.
Additional online stories on this date
Mercer County election difficulties
A Mercer County couple is wondering how many other residents received the wrong election ballots on Tuesday, as their daughter voted on the Montezuma mayor and village council race even though she doesn't live in the village. [More]
Voters easily passed St. Marys City Schools' 6.9-mill bond levy with 61 percent in favor of a school construction project.
Actual vote numbers were: 2,511 for and 1,614 against. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Mercer County election difficulties
A couple of Celina residents on Lakeview Drive were upset and disappointed when they went to the polls Tuesday and were not allowed to vote on city issues.
Turnout for the general election was strong, but less than local officials originally had projected.
About 43 percent of Mercer County's 25,921 registered voters turned out on a blustery Election Day in unofficial vote totals. Elections officials had predicted turnout of 49 percent.
Celina Mayor Sharon LaRue and Auditor Emily Stewart swept to lopsided victories in Tuesday's election while Celina City Council incumbent Calvin "June" Scott also held onto his seat.
Celina
It was an upset on the Celina board of education as incumbent Tom Rable was unseated by newcomer Connie Paulus, who will join re-elected members Ken Fetters and Amy Hoyng and sitting members Cindy Piper and Matt Gilmore.
Coldwater
Current Coldwater village councilors Robert Fisher and Douglas Bertke both will serve another four-year term on council after taking the most votes in Tuesday's election.
Burkettsville
Joe T. Stammen, a current Burkettsville village councilor, was elected as the new mayor.
Stammen, 37, received 58 of the 97 votes cast in Mercer and Darke counties by village residents on Tuesday.
A 1-mill replacement property tax levy for Tri County Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services won broad support from Mercer County voters along with several other local fire and village tax issues on Tuesday.
The D-6 liquor permit that would allow Sunday sales of wine and mixed beverages at the Wal-Mart SuperCenter in Celina was approved by voters by a close count of 83 for and 80 against.
MARIA STEIN - It seems like former coaches around the Grand Lake area are never away from the bench for too long. Coaches seem to get back into their respective sport at sometime or another on one level or another.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Area volleyball teams were well represented on the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association's All-Ohio teams released this week.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
The Wright State University-Lake Campus men's basketball team split their first two games of the season at the Concordia Tournament in Fort Wayne.