VanAken and Jones win City Commission Election by wide margin
November 6, 2007 | Filed Under Seriously/Real Stuff, Local Government | One Response
9:40 P.M. I have word from the polls at the Fairground that Rick VanAken and Juliann Jones were the top vote getters in today’s Livingston City Commission Election. With two available seats and three candidates, the top two candidates win the election. VanAken is an incumbent since January 2007, filling the seat vacated when Bob Ebinger went to the Montana State Legislature. Jones, who has lived in town for over nine years (longer than incumbent Commissioner Patricia Grabow who made much of residency before and during her campaign), is a newcomer to the Livingston political stage. Both VanAken and Jones ran relatively low-key campaigns, but won by wide margins. They also led the voting in every single precinct.
The ballots have yet to be certified, but here are the unofficial 2007 Livingston City Commission election results:
| 2007 Livingston City Commissioner election (elect 2) | ||
| Rick VanAken (appointed this year to fill Bob Ebinger’s term) |
962
|
*** |
| Juiliann Jones | 706 | *** |
| Patricia Grabow (elected in 2004) |
525
|
Livingston has approximately 4500 registered voters, and the turnout of around 1079 with 386 absentee ballots–each voter could have voted for two people)–is notable for a single-race year without ballot issues. I’m sure there will be a lot of interesting punditry and speculation, but my own gut feeling is that people were weary of the constant bickering, or galvanized by the heat of this election, or both.
With a presidential race, and statewide elections (including the gubernatorial race) to turn out the voters, the numbers in 2004 were:
| 2004 Livingston City Commissioner (elect 2) | ||
| Bob Ebinger |
1849
|
*** |
| Patricia Grabow |
1486
|
*** |
| Frank Horiel |
1256
|
|
| Kester Clyde Romans Jr |
772
|
Congratulations to Rick and Juliann for their clean campaigns and a mandate-sized victory. I hope this heralds a new era in City politics, and that everyone will feel a fresh will to participate in community government.
Jones will be sworn in and begin her duties at the first City Commission meeting in January 2008. I don’t know if there is an official swearing in for incumbent VanAken.
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About her time in office, Commissioner Grabow remarked in the Wednesday 11/07/07 Enterprise, “My only regret is that the community is still, basically, run by the same small group of organizations that was in place three years ago: the Gallery Association, CNR (Corporation for the Northern Rockies), the Stafford Animal Shelter.” The remark is puzzling in light of the fact that the outbound Commissioner took offense in a comment on the Livingston arts blog (ArtsMontana.com) when that blog reported her views on the Gallery Association. In fact, is it just plain puzzling.