FORKS — Bryon Monohon was handily heading to victory over Joe Soha in the race for Forks mayor on Tuesday night.
Monohon took 55.26 percent, or 273 votes, to Soha’s 44.74 percent, or 221 votes, in the first count of general election votes.
Monohon, 46, who was in his sixth year of serving on the Forks City Council, went to the Clallam County Courthouse to get the results.
“Wow, this has been a really rewarding and exciting five months,” Monohon said.
“I’m really proud of the clean campaign that we both have run.”
Soha, 26, who owns the Mill Creek Bar and Grill in Forks, was working at his business when results came in on Tuesday night.
“I am thankful for those who voted,” he said, before saying he had to return to work.
He declined further comment.
Strong mayor
Forks has a “strong-mayor” form of government, which means the mayor acts as the city manager and has hiring and firing power. The position is an unpaid, volunteer post and is considered to be a part-time role.
The men are vying for the position that is held by Mayor Nedra Reed, who did not seek a third term.
The ballots tallied from Forks on Tuesday included 510, or 36 percent, of the 1,414 ballots that were mailed.
Throughout Clallam County, approximately 4,500 ballots arrived since 10:30 a.m. Monday and will be counted on Friday, county Election Supervisor Shoona Radon said Tuesday afternoon.
Another 4,000 ballots are expected to arrive today, Auditor Patty Rosand said.
There is no way to know where the untallied ballots have come from.
About 46 percent of ballots have been returned from among 45,737 mailed to voters on Oct. 14, and the expected ballots would result in a 55 percent voter turnout.
Plans to listen
Monohon, a mental health case manager for Forks Community Hospital’s West End Outreach Services, said he will dedicate the next couple of months to listening to what people have to say.
“A lot of candidates during the campaign spend a lot of time out there telling people what they plan to do,” Monohon said. “But I’m a little different.
“I plan on using the next several months to get out there and find out what people would like to see.
“It is really important for us to get the city in financial good shape and to maintain the trust of the public.”
Both Monohon and Soha have expressed concern over the financial situation of the city — and particularly the $300,000 in attorney’s fees spent this year because of personnel disputes.
The money was spent on investigations that began with department employees’ allegations of misconduct by Forks Police Chief Mike Powell — of which he was cleared — and the subsequent process of Reed firing the complainants in February 2008.
Communications officer Deanna Dematteis, Sgt. JoElle Munger and Sgt. Tom Scott — who ran for City Council this election against John Hillcar — were terminated after making the allegations in early 2007.
That was followed by an unsuccessful attempt by Scott and Dematteis to bring a proposed recall of Reed to a vote.
The new mayor will be sworn in at the first City Council meeting of the year which will be on Jan. 11.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.