ASHLAND — A village council candidate had one word Monday after an automatic recount solidified one more term in office.
“Phew.”
Doug Yoho, an incumbent on Savannah Village Council, earned 37 votes during this election cycle. It came down to him and candidate Sarah McBride, who earned 36 votes.
The Ashland County Board of Elections met Monday to conduct recounts in the Savannah Village Council race and a tied tax levy in Jeromesville.
The recount yielded no changes from the unofficial tally, meaning Savannah’s council will consist of Erin Baughman, Amy Leidigh, Cassandra McAndrew and Yoho.
Yoho, 72, has served the village for 14 years. Moments after the recount, which he observed, he said he’s “tickled to death.”
“It means my voice can continue to be heard,” he said. “I really feel like I can continue to voice concerns and just be what I’ve been.”
He wished McBride the best and said he’ll do his best to serve the residents for what he said would be his last term.
Jeromesville tax levy result
Jeromesville voters chose between two additional tax levies. One of them passed, the other tied.
State law requires levies to earn a majority of the votes, meaning the 1.3-mill tax levy failed. Even after the recount, there were 43 votes for and against the measure.
Officials expected the property tax levy to raise $13,414 each year. A property owner would have been taxed $46 per year for every $100,000 of appraised value.
The money would have been earmarked for public infrastructure improvements. Jeromesville Mayor Randy Spade has said a failure would mean further delays to those projects and possible cuts in services.
Loudonville-Perrysville school board
The Ashland County Board of Elections will meet at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 3 to perform a recount of the results for the Loudonville-Perrysville school board race between Tyler McCaskey and John Temple.
Unofficial tallies from Ashland, Richland, Knox and Holmes counties show a margin of five votes between the two candidates.
Temple has 693 and McCaskey has 688.
State law mandates that close races in multi-jurisdictional elections be ordered by the Ohio Secretary of State.
