Update, 4 p.m. 10-4-24:
Absentee ballot counting has not affected the outcome of the Sitka Municipal Election. Here are the final, unofficial results:
Original Report:
Sitka voters returned incumbent mayor Steven Eisenbeisz to his seat for another two years.
Eisenbeisz decisively outpolled political newcomer Leah Mason, by a 2-to-1 margin, 1,156 to 551.
Two other veteran assembly members were also returned to the table, Kevin Mosher and Scott Saline, who won 1,082 and 1,055 votes respectively. Mosher will serve his third three-year term. Saline, who was elected last year to a one-year seat, will get a full three-years this time around.
Political newcomer Robert Hattle came in a respectable third, with 779. Austin Cranford, in his second bid to win a seat on the assembly, came in a distant fourth with 373 votes.
There was no race for the two open seats on the Sitka School Board. Only one candidate, Amanda Williams, appeared on the ballot. Voters gave Williams the nod with 1,498 votes. There were no registered write-in candidates for the remaining seat.
Williams is a former Science teacher at Blatchley Middle School who lost her job last spring as a result of unprecedented cuts to education statewide by the governor. Williams is also the daughter-in-law of current school board member Tom Williams.
The Sitka School District has already begun advertising the appointment of the vacant fifth seat. Letters of interest will be accepted through October 16. Applicants will be interviewed at a special meeting on October 23, when one will be appointed to serve until the municipal election in the fall of 2025.
And lastly, two ballot propositions – both housekeeping measures concerning the Sitka Charter (deleting the reference to Sitka Community Hospital, and aligning recall procedures with state law) – passed by roughly 9-to-1 margins.
A possible 78 absentee ballots will be counted in Harrigan Centennial Hall beginning at 2 p.m. this Friday. Absentee counting will not affect the outcome of the election, however. The Sitka Assembly will certify the election results at its regular meeting next Tuesday, October 8.
