New Ocean Shores Council lineup emerges from election results

The Ocean Shores City Council will undergo a significant lineup change next year with two new members, one returning after a prior election defeat, and another who retained the seat she was appointed to by the current members.

In updated election returns, Susan Conniry pulled away from incumbent John Lynn for the Ocean Shores City Council Position 1 seat, while Lisa Griebel retained her Position 3 seat. Also, former finance director Steven Ensley won in his first bid for council and former councilman Bob Crumpacker won the Position 7 seat. With the last batch of results from the Nov. 7 general election tallied and announced Nov. 14 by the Grays Harbor County Auditor, it was clear that any remaining ballots to be counted would not change the outcomes.

In the closely contested Position 1 race, Conniry had 1,127 votes (52.2 percent), with Lynn garnering 1,030 votes (47.7 percent) in his bid for a third term on the seven-member City Council. Precinct vote totals show Conniry out-polled Lynn in six of Ocean Shores’ seven precincts.

In a statement following the ballot count, Conniry thanked Lynn “for his commitment and years of service to Ocean Shores and wish him the best for the future.”

“Being an effective council person encompasses listening, translating your concerns into workable proposals, and building consensus to implement them,” Conniry said. “We, as a council, cannot do that job without the involvement and openness of the people we represent. As elected leaders we must help each other and the public stay focused on the future and on the common good.”

For Position 3, Griebel (1,081 votes/53.4 percent) retained her seat in defeating Shannon Rubin (942 votes/46.63 percent).

Griebel said she was grateful for the opportunity to return to the position that she was appointed to when former Council member Dan Overton had to step down to take a new job in Olympia.

“I look forward to the upcoming work with our new council members. As our new team learns to work respectfully with one another, we can continue our current council’s laser focus on issues impacting our city and its residents,” Griebel said.

In the Position 5 contest, Ensley (1,131 votes/56.3 percent) defeated former Council member Randy Scott (878 votes/43.7 percent). Ensley noted the campaign was “somewhat of an endurance race” because of the primary election, “but it was worth the effort.

“I enjoyed all of the candidate forums and want to thank all of the event organizers for their efforts,” Ensley said. “I look forward to being part of the council for the next four years. I will support long term sustainable growth for the city as both a retirement community and a tourist destination. To achieve that goal requires patience, planning, communication and compromise on the part of the council and the citizens. If we can minimize the drama and maximize the open discussion I believe that we can move forward together.

For Position 7, former Council member Crumpacker (1,158 votes/57.3 percent) defeated political newcomer Carlos Roldan (862 votes/42.6 percent). Crumpacker, who lost in 2011 to John Schroeder, said he looked forward to returning to the council at a time when the city is in far better financial shape than when he last served. “In 2008, we were literally dealing with the life of the city,” Crumpacker noted.

He added that he and Ensley bring a wealth of municipal public works and financial experience to the council, and his first priority will be to build a road maintenance program.

“I am encouraged about the variety of backgrounds we will have on the council,” Crumpacker said. With several big budget and policy decisions still looming before the current council, he added: “I’m kind of used to the fact that whenever you have a new council come on in January, you inherit whatever you had from before.”

The Grays Harbor County Auditor’s Office has said a final ballot total update will be at 4 p.m. on Nov. 14. County-wide, voter turnout was 34.85 percent for the general election.

North Beach results

In the North Beach School District, all four candidates were running unopposed: Jeff Wilson for Director District 1 (two-year term); Linda Poplin for District 2, Rachel Carl for District 3, and Phil Hiam for District 5.

For North Beach area fire districts, two candidates were running for the Fire District No. 8 Position 1: Stephanie Allestad of Pacific Beach had a secure lead with 116 votes (58.2 percent) over Clinton Davis (83 votes/41.7 percent) of Moclips. For Fire District No. 7, Joseph Fernandez (80 votes/42 percent) was trailing Jim Richards (110 votes/57.8 percent) for Commissioner Position 3 (a four-year unexpired term), while Darrell Haglund had no opposition for Position 2 (6-year term).

Voters in Fire District 8 also were overwhelmingly approving an Emergency Medical Care and Ambulance Service Levy with 155 votes in favor (77.11 percent) to 46 opposed (22.8 percent).

In Taholah, all four candidates for the Taholah School Board were running unopposed: Merian C. Juneau for Position 2, Kathleen Law for Position 3, Tony M. Kramer for Position 4, and Gina James for Position 5. For the Quinault School District, both Anita Blackburn and David Christiansen also were unopposed for the two school director positions.