Newcomers bring wind of change to Sequim City Council
Laura Dubois, left, and Susan Lorenzen, right, clink their glasses together at the Bella Italia restaurant in Port Angeles to celebrate Sequim City Council election results on Tuesday night. With them are Virginia Shogren, second from left, and Joy Erichsen, wife of candidate Erik Erichsen. -- Photo by Chris Tucker/Peninsula Daily News
By Diane Urbani de la Paz, Peninsula Daily News
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Three challengers and an outspoken architect were enjoying comfortable leads over the incumbents Tuesday night.
In the race for position 4, Sequim Planning Commissioner Susan Lorenzen garnered 858 votes, or 71.2 percent of the vote, over incumbent Don Hall's 347 votes, or 28.8 percent.
Council seat 5 appears to be going to retired Hanford Nuclear Reservation physicist Erik Erichsen, who had 722 votes, or 61.29 percent of ballots counted, over appointed incumbent Bob Anundson, who had 456 votes, or 38.71 percent.
Laura Dubois, a retired budget analyst, received 881 votes, or 73.79 percent of the balloting for council seat 6. Incumbent Ron Farquhar had 313 votes, or 26.21 percent.
Seat 7, soon to be vacated by Councilman John Beitzel, seems to belong to architect Ken Hays, who had 776 votes, or 72.52 percent. Write-in candidate Marge Williams got 294 votes, or 27.48 percent.
"It's great for us, the four challengers," Hays said Tuesday night.
"We had a unified message," of keeping Sequim "rural by design. It was never about being anti-growth. It's possible to grow and do a better job managing it."
'A mandate'
Hall, after five years on the council, said he's happy to see a woman succeeding him.
"People wanted a change, and they got it," he said.
"It's a mandate," Hays added. "The pressure's on."
Farquhar said he's proud of his six years on the council, and wished his replacements well.
"It's always good to have fresh ideas," he said.
His opponent, Dubois, marveled at the substantial leads.
"We were optimistic," she said, "but this is amazing."
Counted on Tuesday night were 14,720 ballots, or 34 percent of the 43,296 mail-in ballots sent out on Oct. 17.
By the 8 p.m. Tuesday deadline, 4,516 additional ballots were in hand at the Clallam County Elections Office, but not yet processed. That represents another 10.4 percent of the ballots mailed out.
An undetermined number of ballots were collected from drop boxes at 8 p.m.
Auditor Patty Rosand said she expects another 3,000 to 4,000 ballots, both from the drop boxes and through the mail, this week. How many of the outstanding ballots apply to the Sequim council races was unknown.
Votes will be counted again by 4:30 p.m. Friday. The ballots must have been postmarked on or before Tuesday.
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Sequim Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: November 06. 2007 9:00PM