The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly swore in two members and certified the results of the Oct. 1 election during their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
Cindy Ecklund won reelection; James Baisden was newly elected to the borough assembly. Willy Dunne, who had previously served on the assembly, was also elected. Ecklund and Baisden were sworn in Tuesday, while Dunne was unable to attend and will be sworn in later.
Ecklund, Baisden and Dunne all ran unopposed in the election and consequently won by significant margins. Ecklund, who represents the east peninsula, took 710 votes to 33 write-ins. Baisden, representing Kalifornsky, took 321 votes to 15 write-ins. Dunne took 976 votes to 81 write-ins. All will serve three-year terms ending in October 2027.
With the arrival of Baisden and Dunne, the assembly bid farewell to Brent Hibbert and Mike Tupper.
Hibbert thanked the support he had seen from borough employees and fellow assembly members during his terms, poking particular fun at assembly member Peter Ribbens — “so glad to get rid of me tonight he was unloading my desk drawer.”
Tupper said that he isn’t sad to step away — “I am kind of exhausted” — but that he enjoyed his time on the assembly learning “a lot of new things.”
Borough Mayor Peter Micciche credited both incoming and outgoing assembly members for stepping up and serving their communities, for having the courage to “put their name on the dotted line.”
Borough results also include the seats on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education. The two candidates for the seat representing Kenai, Sarah Douthit and Jeanne Reveal, maintained almost the same distribution from preliminary election night results to the final tallies. Douthit saw 388 ballots cast in her name for roughly 67% of the vote — where on Oct. 1 she had 66%.
Kelley Cizek, representing Sterling and Funny River, and Tim Daugharty, representing Homer, both were reelected to their seats in uncontested elections. Cizek received 337 votes against 23 write-ins. Daugharty took 1,662 votes to 41 write-ins.
A bond proposition asking whether the borough should issue general obligation bonds to fund a renovation project for South Peninsula Hospital was rejected by voters with roughly 62% of ballots cast in opposition.
A full recording of the meeting and the certified results can be found at kpb.legistar.com, in the meeting notes for Oct. 8.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
