According to preliminary results from the Union County Board of Elections, Jackie Hamilton will be joining the three incumbents — Von Beal, Patrick Morse and George Showalter — on the Village of Richwood Council.
Hamilton received 119 votes of the 570 total votes, or 20.88%. Beal and Morse received 131 votes each, or 22.98% each, and Showalter received 125 votes, or 21.93%.
“Thank you to voters who placed their trust in me,” Beal said. “I will continue to work on the issues that matter to you.”
Morse added that he looks forward to continuing to work as a group for the betterment of the village.
“I’m just looking forward to helping the village in any way I can,” Morse said.
He hopes to bring more people to Richwood and make the village more “vibrant.”
Showalter said he has the “intentions to make the best possible judgments” to further the growth of businesses and improvements of the village.
“I look forward to returning to another term on the council,” he said.
Hamilton could not be reached by press time.
The fifth candidate, Steven Lotonu’u Si’ufanua, received 64 votes, or 11.23%.
“I am very grateful and surprised that I had a lot of votes since I didn’t really campaign,” Si’ufanua said. “I am no stranger to this place as I have spent most of my elementary days here and part of junior high and part of high school and my late mother Patricia L. Coyle had graduated here in 1968. So thanks again and maybe next time … and always remember to keep the country country and choose the right.”
In addition, Brian Davis and Matt Staley were reelected to the North Union Local School District Board of Education. Davis received 743 of the total 2,172 votes, or 34.21%. Staley received 739 votes, or 34.02%.
“I would like to thank the voters in the North Union Local School District for their support,” Staley said. “I look forward to continued service to our wonderful school and community.”
Matthew Hall will join the school board, replacing Jean Wedding. He received 690 votes, or 31.77%. Hall expressed his appreciation for voters’ support of the election system and the local school board.
“I look forward to my term and hope that we can continue our successes at North Union and build upon momentum to continue to grow our curriculum,” he said.
Davis did not wish to comment at press time.
Lastly, the Tri-Rivers 1.3-mill renewal levy passed with 679 of the 1,074 total votes, or 63.22%.
“Tri-Rivers would like to thank the voters for their tremendous support at the polls (Tuesday) night. With the passage of this renewal levy we will continue to be fiscally responsible and provide the most up-to-date career technical education for high school and adult students,” Superintendent Charles Speelman and Treasurer Tammi Cowell wrote in a joint statement.
“It is always our goal to listen to our communities and be responsive to their needs with relevant technical skills training and programming. We will always teach our students to be leaders by involving them in community service benefitting the areas we serve.”
According to the Union County Auditor, the cost to taxpayers remains the same as the existing levy, $20.98 per $100,000 of property value per year.
Collection for the renewal begins in 2023.
The levy will bring more than $1.7 million in revenue to Tri-Rivers annually from the North Union school district in Union County as well as school districts in Crawford, Delaware, Hardin, Marion and Morrow counties.
This renewal levy represents about 15% of the general fund operating budget.