Kuykendall Wins Council Seat

WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council has a new council member, KC Kuykendall, after Monday's annual election.

Results from the election were posted at Waitsburg City Hall and show that of the 320 ballots turned in, the council members didn't change much but for the spot vacated by former councilman Orville Branson.

In the results, the most votes went to Kevin House, with 262, followed by Karl Newell, 245, Kuykendall, 243, Marty Dunn, 226 and Scott Nettles, 216.

"I'm just really pleased to have received that vote of confidence from the residents of Waitsburg," Kuykendall said Tuesday morning.

He said he didn't really know whether he would be elected because he is fairly new to the community. Being on the Truth and Trust Slate with the incumbents really gave him an advantage in this race, he said.

For the year ahead, Kuykendall said he will focus on the issues he campaigned on. He wants to create an economic development plan for the city that the community can embrace, and he wants to work with Gobel on a performance-based budget.

Waitsburg residents Tiffany Laposi and Bart Baxter also threw their hats in the ring for a spot on council, but were not elected. Laposi earned an honorable 101 votes and Baxter earned 92. Leroy Cunningham, who had not expressed interest to be on council, earned himself 13 votes.

Current Mayor Walt Gobel ran unopposed and earned 221 votes. Former mayor Markeeta Little Wolf did not run for the position, but earned 62 votes.

Early Tuesday morning, Gobel said he was excited to serve as the city's mayor for another year and he said he is happy to have Kuykendall on board as the new council member. Gobel said he believes Kuykendall is the best person for the job.

Running unopposed this year was "much easier and cheaper," the mayor said. He's comfortable with the position as mayor and is enjoying it. He said he doesn't know how long he'll want to hold the position, this will be his third year at the helm, but he's having fun for right now.

"I just kind of take it year by year," he said.

Laposi said Tuesday morning she was thrilled with achieving 101 votes, even if she didn't obtain the council seat she had her eye on.

"I would just like to thank everybody who voted for me," Laposi said. "I think KC will do a great job."

Laposi said she certainly plans to run for another city position in the future. She just needs to start campaigning earlier next time, she said.

City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said the election will be certified on April 18 and the mayor and council will take the oath of office that same day.

An advisory item also on the ballot for the Monday election asked the citizens if they would mind if the date of this annual election was changed. Hinchliffe said the city charter mandates the election for mayor and council be held the first Monday of April every year. Most cities elect their council and mayor once every four years. Moving this election to August would save the city money because the ballots and counting would be under the responsibility of Walla Walla County, not the city of Waitsburg, Hinchliffe said.

In Monday's election, 189 people approved moving the election to August and 110 voted against that proposal.

The city council will have to decide whether the election will be moved, Hinchliffe said.

As far as turnout for this year's election, Hinchliffe said not as many people voted this year as in 2011.

"It wasn't a heated race," Hinchliffe said as the reason for the lower turnout.