Special elections were held in Clear Lake and Swaledale on Tuesday, March 5.
Clear Lake Community School District voters passed the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) 10-year extension and the town of Swaledale has a new mayor.
This past November, voters approved increasing the PPEL levy from 67-and-one-half cents to $1.34 per $1,000 taxable valuation for the remainder of the current existing PPEL that expires at the end of June 2025. However, the second ballot question which would extend the levy for another 10 years beyond June 2025, was voted down. This same question was brought back to the voters at this recent election. PPEL funds are used for technology, safety equipment and buses, as well as construction, repairs or remodeling.
Only 4.2 percent of Clear Lake’s 6,570 voters cast a ballot, but it was enough to pass the measure, which required a greater than 50 percent “yes” vote. The unofficial numbers were 60.36 percent “Yes” and 39.64 percent “No.” The PPEL extension will begin with the 2026-27 school year.
Swaledale voters also headed to the ballot box on March 5 to cast votes for the open mayor’s position. Only 41.3 percent, or 45 out of the town’s 109 registered voters cast a ballot in person or by absentee vote. Nobody filed to be placed on the ballot for the mayor position, but Rodney Bergman was the write-in winner with 20 votes, while the current mayor, Laura Starbuck, received four write-in votes. Another six random write-in votes made up 100 percent of the votes cast.
Voters were also asked to vote for the council member at-large position in which Joyce J. Anderson and Tollin J. Manwarren were on the ballot. Anderson won with 18 votes. Darwin Hanson, a write-in candidate, received 14 votes and Manwarren received seven. Five other random write-in votes were cast.
