Merced Union High School District to pick from two election options

Merced Union High School District trustees will decide between two election options Wednesday to fill the unexpired term of Sam Spangler, who resigned in late September.

The five-member board will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the Atwater High School library. This meeting will feature the swearing-in of new trustees Richard Lopez and Greg Opinski, who were victorious in the Nov. 4 general election. Lopez beat incumbent Will Snyder III, and Opinski barely edged out a win over eight-year board veteran Ida Johnson.

Barbara Levey, Merced County registrar of voters, said trustees have until Dec. 26 to decide if they want to conduct a May 5 mail-in ballot election. The board’s other option is a special election June 5, which would be more costly.

On two occasions trustees deadlocked 2-2 on appointing a replacement for Spangler’s Area 3 seat. The board had 60 days to fill the seat by appointment; when that did not happen, it triggered the necessity of holding an election.

Five people – Marie Gonzales and Jerry Moore, both of Winton; Rose Connolly and Robert Weimer, both of Atwater; and Frank Vierra of Livingston – had applied for appointment to the board. Weimer previously had served many years on the board.

Levey said the all-mail election would be less costly because it avoids the necessity of setting up a polling place, moving and setting up voting machines and hiring election workers. Ballots will be mailed to all registered voters in Trustee Area 3, which includes parts of Winton, Livingston and Snelling.

If a special election were held with polling places, the election cost could reach $44,000, or about $4 a voter.

Levey said there is generally a better turnout, percentage-wise, from the vote-by-mail process. With a mail-in ballot, the elections office still needs to create a sample ballot, mail ballots and process them when they are returned.

Lopez said it was too bad no decision was made on appointing Spangler’s replacement. He said now it will be up to voters to decide who will fill the last two years of Spangler’s term and the board will have just four members until the May election.

Levey said there will be a four-week filing period for trustee candidates once the board calls for an election. She said the filing dates are to be determined.

Johnson said she hopes the district can get back to a working, harmonious board as in previous times. She wished the new board well and hoped they would be able to work together.

Snyder said the people of Livingston should make sure someone is elected who has the best interest of Livingston High School in mind.

This story was originally published December 4, 2014 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Merced Union High School District to pick from two election options."