The results of the local races up for election in Moniteau County on Tuesday, April 3, were for the most part clear cut.
The only exception was the contest for Moniteau R-V School Board (Latham). In that contest, the three candidates each took about a third of the votes, with only four votes separating the top and the bottom candidates. The final tally keeps incumbent Shawn M. Higgins on the board and seats James Bonecutter as the newest board member, with Denise Roush losing by only three votes.
The new board will oversee the final construction of the Latham school, which burned in December 2010. Construction began on the new facility in December 2011. It is expected to be completed at the end July.
California's Moniteau R-I school board will have one new board member. Of the five candidates for the two board seats, voters returned incumbent Paul Bloch for another term and elected Jay VanDieren to fill the other position.
Voters in the High Point R-III school district returned incumbent Rick Percival to the board for another term and elected Jennifer A. Dampf to fill the other position up for election.
Tipton R-VI school district voters returned one incumbent to the board voted another off. Greg Miller returns for another term, with Joe Huhmann replacing incumbent candidate David Patten
The proposition to change the office of City Collector of California from an elected office to an appointed position failed to pass. Since the California City Collector is an office with no duties and a salary of $10 a year, the proposition was put on the ballot to change it to an appointed office. The duties of the City Collector were eliminated several years ago when they were turned over to the Moniteau County Collector and other city employees.
(For more on this story check out the April 11 issue of the California Democrat.)