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Originally published by the Idaho Press-Tribune.
Canyon County residents went to the polls Tuesday to determine the fate of several ballot measures, including school bonds, fire levies and school district board of trustees. With 60 of 60 precincts reporting, about 7.73 percent of the county’s 61,985 registered voters — or 4,789 — turned out for the election.
The results remain unofficial until the Canyon County Board of Commissioners canvass the results.
NAMPA SCHOOL BOARD
ZONE 1
NAMPA — Former Nampa Education Association president and Boise School District teacher Mandy Simpson won the Zone 1 school board seat in Tuesday’s election.
Simpson received 77 votes, beating incumbent Joca Veloz, who received 37 votes, and Jac Webb, who garnered 47 votes.
Simpson is in her 11th year of teaching math, and taught the first nine of those years in Nampa School District. During the campaign, Simpson said her top three priorities were to provide a quality education to all students in the district, make sure the community’s voice is heard and maintain a balanced budget.
“I have background experience that makes me very qualified for this position,” Simpson said earlier this month. “I believe firmly in public education and the importance of giving to my community.”
Simpson will serve on the board for a term of four years.
ZONE 2
NAMPA — Clinical social worker Janelle Stauffer won the Zone 2 trustee election for the Nampa School Board in Tuesday’s election.
Stauffer received 111 votes, while incumbent Daren Coon took 64 votes and challenger Isaac Moffett garnered 74 votes.
During the campaign, Stauffer said her three priorities were decreasing large class sizes in the school district, increasing communication efforts between the community and all faculty and administrators in the district, and more attention paid to students with “unique and special needs.”
Stauffer also said her perspective as a social worker in Nampa would lend well to the board’s makeup.
“As a clinical social worker and having the involvement with kids in the way that I do, seeing them one-on-one in therapy offers a different perspective that I don’t think is represented on the board,” Stauffer told the Idaho Press-Tribune. “I get to hear the stories intimately and I study human behavior for a living, so I understand what’s needed and I get to see how it plays out day to day on an individual level.”
Stauffer will serve on the board for a term of four years.
MIDDLETON FIRE LEVY
MIDDLETON — The levy that would allow Middleton Rural Fire District to staff 32 employees was approved Tuesday with 84.21 percent favorable votes.
The vote, 1,456 people in favor and 273 in opposition, was for the same levy that passed in 2008. The levy must, however, be renewed every two years by voters. It was not an increased tax request; it was an extension of what is already in place.
Since the levy passed, residents will annually pay about $197 per $100,000 of the taxable value of their property. Tax exemptions, such as a homeowner’s exemption, may alter what a resident will actually pay.
It would raise the district’s annual budget from $836,000 to $1.3 million.
Voters in the November 2014 election shot down a two-year, $670,599 levy. The levy failed with 1,850 votes in favor to 2,197 against, or 44.12 percent in favor and 54.29 percent against.
NOTUS SCHOOL BOND
NOTUS — After two rounds of defeat in the past year, Notus School District voters decided to approve a $4.8 million bond for a new elementary school on the third try in Tuesday’s election.
The bond reached the necessary threshold of a supermajority with 70.55 percent voting for the bond and 29.45 percent voting against it. That works out to 242 votes in favor and 101 voting no.
The bond will finance the building of a new school to replace the district’s current structure, which is nearly 90 years old. The bond will increase the district’s current bond levy rate from $139 per $100,000 home to $257, or an increase of $118. But that cost will be offset by dropping the amount it will collect on its plant and facility levy from $244 to $140, according to the district.
The bond amount also includes the demolishing of the current school with the exception of the gymnasium. That will cost about $155,000. The rest will pay for a building with 900-square-foot classrooms instead of the current 630 square feet, and it would add energy efficiency to decrease heating costs. The new school will also be handicapped-accessible, would increase safe and secure entrances and exits, would have parent and bus loading and unloading areas and more.
CALDWELL SCHOOL BOARD
ZONE 2
CALDWELL — Incumbent Thomas Briten barely retained his seat on the Caldwell School Board in Tuesday’s election, beginning his second term on the board.
Briten received 108 votes, while challenger Toni Waters took 104 votes.
During the campaign, Briten — who is a former teacher and current substitute teacher — said his main goal for Caldwell was to stay on its current course. His top three priorities included continuing what the district is already doing, focusing on students and retaining good administrators. He said the district is well run in part because of Superintendent Tim Rosandick, who was hired by a committee formed while Briten was a trustee.
Briten will serve on the board for a term of four years.
ZONE 3
CALDWELL — Former legislative candidate Travis Manning took the Zone 3 seat on Caldwell School Board in Tuesday’s election, winning by four votes.
Manning received 114 votes, while incumbent Sandra Dodson took 110 votes.
Manning has been an English teacher at Vallivue High School for 10 years, and ran for the Idaho Legislature twice. During the campaign, he said his top three priorities are to implement the strategic plan developed in Caldwell, attract and retain quality teachers and increase community education efforts. Manning also has children in Caldwell schools.
“I’m really passionate about supporting public schools and have a good understanding of education policy issues and kind of how schools run from different viewpoints,” Manning said earlier this month.
Manning will serve on the board for a term of four years.
ZONE 4
CALDWELL — Incumbent Chuck Stout will remain on the Caldwell School Board for a second term after Tuesday’s election.
Stout received 73 votes, while challenger Don Atkinson took 69 votes.
During the campaign, Stout said his priorities are maintaining a commitment to the community, board transparency and fiscal responsibility. While Caldwell School District does have a fund balance at the moment, he said, he wants to continue to grow that fund in case of any unforeseen issues.
“We do have a modest fund balance right now, and it’s not where we want it to be, but with the work of the superintendent and all the administrators and teachers … we’ve been able to try to keep our budget in order and move forward,” he said earlier this month.
Stout will serve on the board for a term of four years.
KUNA RECREATION DISTRICT
KUNA — Voters in Canyon and Ada counties within the Kuna school district shot down the formation of a recreation district in their community.
The decline to form the district came with 989 votes in favor of the district and 1,068 in opposition.
The district’s formation would have had a property tax levy to fund the district’s operation.
The amount levied in any given year would have been determined by a board appointed by Gov. Butch Otter. Based on property value in Kuna, the cost to an average property owner would have been about $101 per year.
If it were approved, the recreation district would have laid the groundwork for a new community facility featuring a swimming pool, fitness center and space for the Kuna Boys and Girls Clubs.
MIDDLETON SCHOOL BOARD
MIDDLETON — Local sales executive Tim Winkle won the open seat on Middleton School Board in Tuesday’s election.
Winkle received 175 votes, defeating incumbent John Orrison, who received 76 votes, and Tammy Nichols, who received 132 votes.
During the campaign, Winkle said his top three priorities were the rates of students going on to higher education, special education and preschool within the district.
“Our district has very low numbers of students that go on after high school. College is definitely not for everyone, but when you look at the percentage that go on from other districts and other states, we have a substantially small amount that choose to continue their education,” Winkle said. “There is no doubt in my mind that college is essential to our students being successful later in life. I believe that it is our responsibility to make sure that they are prepared in PK-12 to make that transition from high school to college.”
Winkle has four daughters in Middleton schools. He will serve on the board for a term of four years.
WILDER FIRE LEVY
WILDER — Voters rejected the levy that would have allowed the Wilder Rural Fire Protection District to hire four new full time firefighters by way of a $250,000 annual levy.
The levy required a supermajority vote, meaning a two-thirds favorable vote. But 85.01 percent of voters rejected the levy, and 14.99 percent voted in favor. That equals out to 448 votes in opposition, and 79 votes in favor of the levy.
The levy would have cost property owners about $108 per year per $100,000 of taxable property value, increasing the fire district’s annual budget of about $340,000 by $250,000.
If the levy passed, the district would have been able to have two people on shift every day at the station 24-hours a day. Volunteer crew members would still be used.
Chief Steve Rhodes has said the additional full time staff would have reduced the response time for firefighters and EMTs.
NAMPA HIGHWAY
DISTRICT NO. 1
Sub-district 3 commissioner
NAMPA — Dick Smith kept his seat as Nampa Highway District’s commissioner for sub-district 3 on Tuesday.
Smith, the incumbent, had 817 votes, with 61.15 percent of the vote.
Peggy S. Paul had 519 votes, with 38.85 percent of the vote.
Nampa Highway District No. 1, one of four highway districts to serve Canyon County, is responsible for maintaining 367 miles of roads, as well as the signs, bridges and culverts located within its boundaries.
The district is governed by three elected commissioners who represent sub-districts.
Smith said his top priorities are to maintain high standards for maintenance and new construction within the district, put an emphasis on safety for highway district employees and patrons and better anticipate the growth and future needs for the district.
Commissioners serve four-year terms and work part time.
PARMA SCHOOL
DISTRICT LEVY
PARMA — Voters approved a $350,000 levy for two years for general operating costs in Parma School District during Tuesday’s election, preventing the district from having to consider layoffs or other cuts.
A simple majority was needed for the supplemental levy, and it met that threshold with 78.81 percent voting in favor and 21.19 percent voting against, or 186 people voting yes and 50 voting no.
KUNA SCHOOL BOARD
ZONE 1
KUNA — Joy Garrison won the Zone 1 seat for Kuna School Board in Tuesday’s election.
Garrison received 245 votes, while challenger Dan Johnson took 161 votes.
According to the Kuna Melba News, Garrison graduated from Kuna High School and earned a political science degree from Boise State University last spring. She has seven children in Kuna schools, and said she wants to see improved communication between the district and community.
Garrison will serve on the board for a term of four years.
ZONE 2
KUNA — J.D. Grant retained his seat on Kuna School Board for another four years in Tuesday’s election.
Grant received 292 votes, while challenger Cory Tanner took 173 votes.
Grant owns a business in Kuna and has three children in Kuna schools, according to the Kuna Melba News. He said he wants to maintain quality schools to attract quality families and businesses.
ZONE 5
KUNA — Carl Ericson will keep his seat as a Kuna School Board trustee and chairman after winning Tuesday’s election in a close race.
The Zone 5 seat on the Kuna School Board is the only trustee seat Canyon County and Ada County voters both weighed in on.
Ericson received 170 votes, while challenger Bill Tippetts took 127 votes.
Ericson has been a trustee for Kuna for the past 10 years, serving for the last three as its chairman. He also has five children that have all graduated from Kuna High School.
Ericson will serve on the board for another four years.
LIZARD BUTTE LIBRARY TRUSTEE
MARSING — Dorothy Hutchings was voted in as Lizard Butte Library’s new trustee Tuesday, taking 54.62 percent of the vote.
Neal S. Durham took in 16 votes while Hutchings received 65. A write-in candidate received 38 votes.
KUNA LIBRARY TRUSTEE
KUNA — Sharon L. Fisher took the seat as a Kuna Library trustee in the Tuesday election, beating three other candidates.
Both Canyon and Ada county voters weighed in on the decision.
Fisher took in 979 votes while challenger Roberta “Bobbie” Sailer had 811. Margy R. Boston took in 451 votes and Barbara Grate had 335.