Sausalito Marin City school district has winner - Marin IJ 12/1/06 by Don Speich

Sausalito Marin City school district has winner
Don Speich
Article Launched:12/01/2006 11:33:58 PM PST

More than three weeks after the election, Mark Trotter was declared Friday the winner of a seat on the Sausalito Marin City School District board, defeating incumbent George Stratigos by 87 votes.
With all absentee ballots counted, Trotter, 53, received 2,023 votes to 1,936 for Stratigos, reported Elaine Ginnold, county registrar of voters.

Trotter held a narrow lead over Stratigos since the Nov. 7 election, ranging from a low of 24 to the final tally as absentee ballots were counted.

All other elections in the county were decided either on Election Day or soon after in what Ginnold said was a record 58 percent absentee vote.

The previous high was 57 percent in June.

Almost 74 percent of Marin's registered voters cast ballots in November, which Ginnold said "was pretty much in the ballpark" for general elections. In the 2004 presidential election, the turnout was 89.5 percent.

Also winning seats on the Sausalito Marin City board were incumbents Shirley Thornton, Whitney Hoyt and newcomer Elizabeth Todd-Gallardo, who defeated incumbent Robert Fisher.

The election was to a large extent a referendum on the efforts of the current board to turn around a 40-year history of academic failure in the 280-student district.


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A majority of students in the district are minorities from Marin City.
Led by Stratigos - who was elected in 1998 as part of a campaign to recall several board members - trustees over the past two years have initiated a reform effort.

Trotter argued during the campaign that what has been done is not good enough and that part of that is due to the board being secretive and out of touch with the communities it serves.

He was critical of the board's decision, prompted by Stratigos, to hire a public relations consultant on a $3,000-a-month retainer.

"It is inappropriate to cut spending on education programs to bring in a PR guy," he said.

Specifically, he said the district has a library but no librarian.

"Not having a librarian, but having a PR person, doesn't make sense to me."

Stratigos, traveling in Greece, was not available for comment.




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Read more Sausalito/Marin City stories at the IJ's Sausalito/Marin City page.
Contact Don Speich via e-mail at dspeich@marinij.com

Newest vote tally shows Trotter leading Stratigos - Marin IJ - Staff Report 11/25/2006

Newest vote tally shows Trotter leading StratigosStaff Report
Article Launched:11/25/2006 01:01:37 AM PST

Mark Trotter continues to lead incumbent George Stratigos for a seat on the Sausalito Marin City School District board.

On Nov. 7, incumbents Shirley Thornton and Whitney Hoyt were elected to the board, as was Elizabeth Todd Gallardo.

The latest tally of absentee ballots released by the county shows that Trotter leads Stratigos by 72 votes, or 1,967 to 1,895.

The final vote is expected to be announced next Friday.

Fourth Election Results - 11/22/06

MARIN COUNTY
GUBERNATORIAL GENERAL ELECTION
NOVEMBER 7, 2006
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
(APPROXIMATELY 2500 PROVISIONAL BALLOTS LEFT TO COUNT)
11/22/06
15:38:30



SL-MC SCHOOL GOV BRD MEM, FULL TERM - Vote for (3)
Total
Number of Precincts 9
Precincts Reporting 9 100.0 %
Times Counted 4860/7219 67.3 %
Total Votes 8659

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SHIRLEY A. THORNTON 2183 25.21%
WHITNEY STIMSON HOYT 2145 24.77%
MARK TROTTER 1967 22.72%
GEORGE T. STRATIGOS 1895 21.88%
PETER C. ROMANOWSKY 430 4.97%
Write-in Votes 39 0.45%

SL-MC SCHOOL DIST GOV BRD MEM, SHORT TERM - Vote for (1)
Total
Number of Precincts 9
Precincts Reporting 9 100.0 %
Times Counted 4860/7219 67.3 %
Total Votes 3201

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ELIZA. TODD-GALLARDO 1853 57.89%
ROBERT E. FISHER 1332 41.61%
Write-in Votes 16 0.50%

Design for MLK Academy on school district agenda - notice Marin IJ 11/18/2006

Design for MLK Academy on school district agenda
Staff Report
Article Launched:11/18/2006 11:14:02 PM PST

A revised design for a new Martin Luther King Jr. Academy middle school will be discussed by the Sausalito Marin City School Board on Monday.
The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the district office at 630 Nevada St.

Third Election Results - 11/17/2006

SL-MC SCHOOL GOV BRD MEM, FULL TERM - Vote for (3)
Total
Number of Precincts 9
Precincts Reporting 9 100.0 %
Times Counted 4684/7219 64.9 %
Total Votes 8369

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SHIRLEY A. THORNTON 2114 25.26%
WHITNEY STIMSON HOYT 2078 24.83%
MARK TROTTER 1896 22.66%
GEORGE T. STRATIGOS 1837 21.95%
PETER C. ROMANOWSKY 416 4.97%
Write-in Votes 28 0.33%
MARIN COUNTY
GUBERNATORIAL GENERAL ELECTION
NOVEMBER 7, 2006
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
(Approximately 3000 Absentee and 2900 Provisional Ballots left to count)
Posted as of:
11/17/06
16:45:23



SL-MC SCHOOL DIST GOV BRD MEM, SHORT TERM - Vote for (1)
Total Number of Precincts 9
Precincts Reporting 9 100.0 %
Times Counted 4684/7219 64.9 %
Total Votes 3088

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ELIZA. TODD-GALLARDO 1781 57.67%
ROBERT E. FISHER 1292 41.84%
Write-in Votes 15 0.49%

Votes to be counted by Wednesday - Marin IJ 11/17/06 by Richard Holstead

Votes to be counted by Wednesday
Richard Halstead
Article Launched:11/17/2006 11:30:01 PM PST

Marin Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold expects all the Marin votes cast in the Nov. 7 election to be counted by Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.
The final vote counts will be announced then but the election won't be certified until Dec. 1 - after county election workers complete a manual recount of 3 percent of the precinct votes, Ginnold said. She said the county is re-counting 3 percent of the votes even though the law requires only 1 percent.

"We're going beyond because we want to build confidence," Ginnold said.

The registrar's office released the results of another 16,409 absentee ballots Friday. Ginnold said there are another 3,000 absentee and 2,900 provisional ballots still to be counted.

The newly counted ballots stretched Mark Trotter's lead over incumbent board member George Stratigos in the race for the third seat on the Sausalito Marin City School District board. Trotter now has a 59-vote lead over Stratigos. When additional ballots were counted last week, Stratigos had closed the gap to 34 votes.

The newly-counted Marin ballots added 9,321 votes in favor of Measure R and 6,539 votes opposing it. The initiative would have raised Marin and Sonoma counties' sales tax one-fourth of a cent to create a rail line from Cloverdale to Larkspur.
Despite the number of uncounted ballots, backers of Measure R have given up hope of eking out a victory. It needed 66.7 percent of the vote to pass but fell short with 65 percent.

Sonoma County election officials said they also expect to release final vote totals on Wednesday. Sonoma County, which has not provided updates, is in the process of counting more than 23,000 absentee ballots and an unknown number of provisional ballots.

Second Election Results 11/09/06

MARIN COUNTY
GUBERNATORIAL GENERAL ELECTION
NOVEMBER 7, 2006
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
11/09/06
15:55:10

SL-MC SCHOOL GOV BRD MEM, FULL TERM - Vote for (3)
Total
Number of Precincts 9
Precincts Reporting 9 100.0 %
Times Counted 3825/7219 53.0 %
Total Votes 6781

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SHIRLEY A. THORNTON 1707 25.17%
WHITNEY STIMSON HOYT 1660 24.48%
MARK TROTTER 1529 22.55%
GEORGE T. STRATIGOS 1495 22.05%
PETER C. ROMANOWSKY 363 5.35%
Write-in Votes 27 0.40%


SL-MC SCHOOL DIST GOV BRD MEM, SHORT TERM - Vote for (1)
Total
Number of Precincts 9
Precincts Reporting 9 100.0 %
Times Counted 3825/7219 53.0 %
Total Votes 2542

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ELIZA. TODD-GALLARDO 1464 57.59%
ROBERT E. FISHER 1063 41.82%
Write-in Votes

Early absentee count helps incumbent narrow gap in Sausalito Marin City schools race - Marin IJ - 11/9/2006

Early absentee count helps incumbent narrow gap in Sausalito Marin City schools race
Staff Report
Article Launched:11/09/2006 11:43:49 PM PST

The race for a seat on the Sausalito Marin City School District board tightened Thursday as Marin election officials released results of newly counted absentee ballots.
Incumbent board member George Stratigos, who was trailing challenger Mark Trotter by just 53 votes election night, has closed the gap to 34 votes.

"That's great," Stratigos said. "I'd love to finish what I started."

Stratigos is the board's president and leader of the district's attempt to turn around 40 years of academic failure. Trotter is a former board member.

Stratigos added, "Either way, Sausalito Marin City wins for better schools. I'm just excited that we have a democratic process, and the schools are no longer outcasts."

The county's registrar of voters office added results of 11,000 absentee votes to Election Day totals Thursday. Those ballots were either turned in at the polls Tuesday or arrived in the mail too late to be counted on Election Day.

Tony Acquilino, a computer analyst for the county, estimated that another 14,000 to 15,000 absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted in Marin.

The registrar's office will release its next update Nov. 17, Acquilino said.

The outcome of some candidacies and measures on Tuesday's ballot hinged on results in Marin and Sonoma counties. Janice Atkinson, Sonoma county's assistant registrar, said she was unsure how many votes remain to be counted there. Atkinson said there are between 23,000 and 27,000 absentee ballots and an unknown number of provisional ballots still to be tallied.

Despite the number of uncounted ballots, backers of train tax Measure R have given up hope of eking out a victory. The initiative would have raised Marin and Sonoma counties' sales tax one-fourth of a cent to create a rail line from Cloverdale to Larkspur. It needed 66.7 percent of the vote to pass but fell short with 65 percent.

The newly counted Marin ballots added 5,852 votes in favor of Measure R and 4,631 opposing it.