Two ballots are dropped off in Forest Grove. Photo: Chas Hundley
The May 18, 2021 special districts election ended at 8 p.m., and the first wave of early results are in.Results will continue to roll in as ballots are counted, and can be found on the Oregon Secretary of State's website at results.oregonvotes.gov.For Gales Creek-area races, some race winners are clear, owing to the fact that the candidates were running unopposed. Others are tighter and will require more votes to come in before this newspaper is comfortable declaring a winner. For the Forest Grove School Board race in Position 1, incumbent Brad Bafaro is running unopposed and has 96.62% or 2,458 votes , Position 2s incumbent Valyrie Ingram is also running unopposed with 97.58% or 2,421, and in the only race with two challengers, incumbent Mark Everett leads with a comfortable margin at 65.26% or 2,040 votes to challenger Mary Whitmore at 34.04% or 1,064 votes. For the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors race, Cleo Howell, running unopposed for his fourth term in Position 1 will win, with 97.87% or 414 votes so far.In Position 3, incumbent Terry Lewis leads at 62.55% or 294 votes while challenger Richard Gale has 37.02% or 174 votes in early results. For the Portland Community College Zone 7 race, Kristi Wilson has 55.58% or 9,912 votes to Reiko Mia Williams 43.23% or 7.710 votes.Election results are considered unofficial until votes are certified on June 7.
Renewal levies for the county's library system and the Washington County Sheriff's Office were on track to pass in the initial election results released at 8 p.m.
Western Washington County voters will have two questions on their ballots. The Washington County Sheriff's Office and the county's library system are each seeking replacement levies that will increase property taxes.
A proposed toll road linking Forest Grove and Tillamook faced opposition, but Gales Creek residents would take any road they could get, according to a 1925 newspaper article.
"County Jail Filled to Overflow With Arrests Made" including Ernest Narver, Frank Kearns, Thomas Young, and Roy Kearns, all arrested at Balm Grove on liquor possession charges in Prohibition-era Gales Creek.
People are shooting exploding targets and firing hot lead into dry vegetation in the Tillamook Forest with predictable results: Five wildfires since May. These fires are all preventable, said Acting Forest Grove District Forester Stephanie Beall.
