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Edes, Dent, Vasquez & Price win in local primanry elections

Ken Edes has been re-elected as mayor of Williams.With the unofficial tally in from Coconino County Elections office, last week the mayoral race and three city council seats were decided.

By 5:19 p.m. Thursday, the cumulative summary report from the county showed 610 ballots were processed. To win at the primary, each candidate needed to get 50 percent of the ballots cast plus one additional vote, which works out to 306 votes.

The count will become official when the current city council accepts the canvass of the votes at a special meeting set for noon Thursday (March 21).

Ken Edes, with 348 votes (59.2 percent of those cast), was victorious as mayor over Mike Morgan, who logged 240 votes (40.8 percent). The mayor’s term of office is two years.

Also elected were city council members Don Dent, Michael F. Vasquez and Cary Price. Dent received 474 votes, Vasquez received 339 votes, and Price received 318 votes.

Eliminated from the city council race were Joyce Sullivant with 280 votes and John Girvin with 195 votes.

Three city council seats were up for re-election. City council terms are four years.

Voter turnout for the Williams city election was at 41.8 percent. There are currently 1,459 registered voters residing in Williams.

Those elected last week will be sworn into office in June.

Home Rule

The Home Rule option passed with 395 ballots for the measure and 162 ballots against it.

Basically, Home Rule allows local elected officials to set the city’s annual budget. Without this measure, the state would mandate the total amount the city can spend.

Williams has operated under Home Rule since 1990. Out of 71 cities and towns statewide, 57 currently operate under the Home Rule option. Voter approval is required for Home Rule every four years.

Budget override

The school budget override passed with 347 Yes votes and 240 No votes.

As a result of this election, the override will stay at full funding through July 2005. The tax rate will not increase but will remain at the current rate and will provide funding for art, band, vocational and athletic programs.

Voter turnout for the school budget override election was at 31.6 percent with 674 ballots cast.

There are currently 2,130 registered voters residing in the Williams Unified School District.

The school budget override was initially passed in March of 1999 and was fully funded for three years.


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