Voters throughout Lane County choose public officials, decide ballot measures

Voters throughout Lane County’s smaller municipalities voted Tuesday, Nov. 3, on community issues of importance — and in Dunes City, a ballot measure about vacation rentals dominated the headlines.

That ballot measure, to put more restrictions on short-term rentals, was trailing, according to 9:30 p.m. unofficial results, with 54.9% of voters against the measure and 45.1% for it.

When reached by Lookout Eugene-Springfield on Tuesday night, resident Linda John, who proposed the ballot measure, said she was disappointed and surprised by the results. Because she has seen other communities across the country tighten their regulations on short-term rentals, she was hopeful that her neighbors felt the same as she did.

“Even though I am disappointed, I respect the voting process,” she said. “It just didn’t go the way I hoped.”

But Dunes City voters appeared to be splitting their ticket: The mayoral candidate in favor of the measure, Chris John, held a slight lead over his opponent, incumbent Edward McGuire. John had 49.9% of the vote. McGuire had 48.8%, a difference of eight votes out of 721 counted.

Voters also elected two new city councilors, Lisa Walter-Sedlacek, who won about 30% of the vote, and Jeanne Jackson, who won 23.5% of the vote. They also appeared to have reelected incumbent Rich Olson, who won 22.4% of the votes. A fourth candidate, Susan Snow, was right behind with 21.9%. Three of the four candidates win seats on the council. Olson has a nine-vote edge over Snow.

Dunes City, a town of 1,400 about 6 miles south of Florence, two years ago capped the number of short-term rentals allowed within city limits at 35. But Linda John proposed Measure 20-386 after having issues with a short-term rental across the street from her home where visitors were throwing large parties and exceeding occupancy limits. 

Measure 20-386 would bar the city from issuing permits for new rentals and require the existing 26 rentals in Dunes City to have an on-site host, among other changes. Opponents argue having an on-site host would kill demand for the town’s vacation rentals.

Voters in other Lane County municipalities Tuesday were choosing mayors and city councilors and weighing in on proposals to fund emergency medical services.

Here’s a rundown:

Cottage Grove

Voters in Cottage Grove are settling a pair of contested races for City Council. 

As of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mark Murphy was polling 54.42% of the vote and Christine Hyink had 45.3% in the race for the Ward 1 seat on the council.

In the race for an at-large seat, Jim Settelmeyer had 64.7% of the vote and Linda S. Olson had 34.9%.

Greg Ervin is unopposed for Cottage Grove mayor. And Ryan Birdseye is unopposed for the Ward 3 seat on the council.

Florence

Florence voters were facing a packed ballot, featuring three candidates for mayor and eight candidates for the City Council.

In the three-way mayor’s race, Sally Wantz (50.2%) led Daniel Lofy (41.8%), with Shannon Warren in third, with 7.8%.

In a four-way race for a two-year term on the council: Incumbent Mike Webb led with 30.2%, with Haylee Cole in second with 26.4%. Renee Lo Pilato was third, with 25% and Elijah Yager with 18%. The top two finishers win seats.

In a four-way race for a four-year term, incumbent Jo Beaudreau was leading with 30.8% with Terry W. Duman with 25.1%. In third was Ryan Eichelberger with 24.3% and Justin Lloyd Ludwig was fourth with 19.5%. The top two vote-getters win seats.

Junction City

Two candidates, incumbent Kenneth Wells and Ken Hancock, are running to be mayor of Junction City. As of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Hancock led, 57.3% of the vote. Wells had 40.6%.

Only two candidates are running for the City Council, which has four vacancies. The two candidates who have filed, Andrea Ceniga and Sandie Thomas, are assured election to the council.

Oakridge

Oakridge voters are choosing between two candidates for mayor — incumbent Bryan Cutchen and challenger Shawn Wayne Goddard. As of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Cutchen led with 75.7% of the vote to Goddard’s 22.5%.

And six candidates are running for three seats on the city’s council: Thaddeus Franklin Carter had 26.2% to lead the pack. In second was Kim Fresenburg with 22.1%, followed by Dirk “Poncho” Tarman with 21.3%. In fourth: Jeffrey Crosby with 14.8%. Bee Havior was in fifth place, with 8.4%. Goat Crudup was in sixth with 5.7%.

Oakridge voters also were rejecting a ballot measure to replace a $17 monthly ambulance service fee with a local option tax set at $1.64 per every $1,000 of assessed value. The measure drew 64.4% “no” votes, with 35.6% “yes” votes. Proponents argue that the fee would provide more consistent funding for emergency medical services; the city’s EMS fund is running at a deficit of about $500,000 a year, officials said.

Veneta

Four candidates — Alexa Benson, Clint Case, Betsy Ingram and David Voltz — are running for two seats on the Veneta council. Ingram drew 27.6% of the vote, followed by Voltz, with 26.8%. In third was Benson, with 24.2%, with Case in fourth, with 20.4%.

The two winners will serve four-year terms.

Western Lane Ambulance District

Voters in the Western Lane Ambulance District, which serves Florence and western Lane County, appeared to be approving a five-year option levy to help pay for emergency medical operations. In all, 80.8% of voters were in favor with 19.2% against. The current levy will expire in 2027. The levy request is set at its current amount, 45 cents per every $1,000 of assessed value.

Coburg

Incumbent Mayor Nancy Bell is running unopposed for another term. And three incumbent councilors — Alan Wells, Cathy Engebretson and John G. Lehmann — also are running unopposed for reelection.

Creswell

Nicholas A. Smith is running unopposed to reelection to another two-year term. And three candidates for the council — Thomas Holland, Normajean Osborn and Daniel Johan Rodriguez — are running unopposed for three four-year terms.

Lowell 

Only one candidate — Don Bennett — filed for Position 1 on the Lowell City Council. And nobody filed for the Position 4 seat on the council.

Westfir

Nobody filed to serve as Westfir’s mayor. Deretta M. Huey is the only candidate to file for the two open seats on Westfir’s council.