SCHOOL BOARD RESULTS ARE IN, STUDENT-RELATED REFERENDUM QUESTIONS SHOW A MIXED RESULT

“Each precinct reported a steady flow of voters all day,” Cottage Grove City Clerk Joe Fischbach reported of turnout this November 2 for decisions on funding a proposed community center along with two school related referendum questions and school board openings.

Now that the dust has settled, though, it seems that the City of Cottage Grove will NOT be selling $39.2 million dollars of property tax-funded general obligations bonds to fund a proposed community center off Highway 61—at least not yet.

Voting November 2 in a closely contested contest, the taxpaying residents of Cottage Grove shot down a city promoted and proposed Community Center by a margin of 2.68 percent of participating voters, or 222 votes out of a total 8,298 cast for the question. With seven of seven precincts in the City reporting Thursday morning at the Secretary of State website, 4,038 Cottage Grove residents voted for the Community Center and 4,260 voted against the same, putting to bed the Community Center for the present. Mayor Myron Bailey as a promoter of the Center had thoughts to share when reached for comment on Tuesday’s vote.

“Though I am disappointed that the Community Center Referendum did not pass, I am proud that I was able to keep my promise to the voters to give them the option to vote either for or against it,” Bailey shared. “It did not lose by much, which tells you the support is there.” Saying further that he believed the desire for a gathering place in Cottage Grove “will not go away,” Bailey nonetheless acknowledged cost as a factor.

“We designed what we were told the public wanted,” he said. “Different people want different things in a Community Center. Obviously cost is a factor. We have some additional ideas and options to present to the public in the future. We will be discussing the future plans for a Community Center at our City Council Retreat in January.”

As to the non-ballot item of Cedarhurst further north and just east of the Cottage Grove Fault, Bailey reported that the city had hired a historical consultant to make sure the mansion was preserved, without taking away from the property.

“Regarding Cedarhurst Nothing new to report other than we (The city) did hire a historical consultant to make sure we preserve the mansion and not take away from the beauty in the structure and the area around it,” he said. “They will work with 360 to make sure whatever the end results look like, will be something we can be proud of.”

Returning to the election then, the two school referendum questions saw mixed results, with the first question adjusting the per pupil funding for ISD 833 passing by a vote of 10,943 for the measure to 9,843 against.

As to spending $50 million over ten years on technology, the ballot measure failed by a vote of 10,347 for and 10,418 against, a much closer margin (71 votes) than the per pupil funding increase (1,100 votes). So what about school board?

Three incumbents and one newcomer is the answer, with Eric Tessmer soon to get a taste of what the school board is like, polling in at 8,652 votes or 11.58 percent of the total. Coming in above Tessmer in vote strength, meanwhile, were current board members Katie Schwartz (10,262 votes), Patricia Driscoll (9,577 votes), and Sharon H. Van Leer (9,188 votes). The return of incumbents by in large to the school board for ISD 833 school board is a dramatic contrast with nearby Hastings and ISD 200, which saw two incumbents toppled and another choose not to run, making three new board members for three open seats in the district.

Katie Schwartz

Patricia Driscoll

Sharon H. Van Leer