Susag wins three-way race for school board

• Sandy Susag

Sandy Susag

Talk about it

It was a big night for elections all around the state, including school districts in and around Douglas County.

In Alexandria School District 206, a new board member was elected. Three newcomers were vying for one open seat (position 4) and Sandy Susag prevailed with 42.3 percent of the votes.

Susag garnered 4,429, while Laura Knudsen received 3,636 and Sara Reemts received 2,357.

In an e-mail to the newspaper, Susag said she was truly honored by the support people have shown her.

“I pledge to do my very best; to be worthy of their [the voters] trust and support. I wish to thank all of you who voted for me and encourage you to contact me with your concerns,” said Susag.

She believes she was elected to the school board position because she has proven she’s interested in the community and the people who live here. She said she’s worked hard for the young men and women who attend school in District 206 to try and provide funding to help them seek additional schooling.

“I believe in education as a key to success later on in life and that we should never stop learning, no matter our age,” Susag said.

Her plans as a new school board member include learning more about the campaign to build a new high school, along with investigating and obtaining more information with regard to the upcoming legislative session and its response to financial needs of School District 206 and its students. She wants to focus on how the Legislature plans to balance the budget without decreasing funding to the school district even more.

Three other seats – positions 2, 3 and 5 – were also up for re-election but were not contested races. All incumbents were re-elected, including Alan Zeithamer, Dean Anderson and Jean Robley.

BRANDON

In Brandon School District 207, residents had to elect three out of four candidates who filed to serve on the school board.

The top vote getters were Kevin Lanners (607 votes), Randy Bettermann (597 votes) and Debora Sullivan (443 votes). A fourth candidate, Tessa Dutcher, received 378.

OSAKIS

The race for Osakis School District 213 could come down to a coin toss – eight people vied for three school board seats and two people tied for the third seat.

Unofficially, Tom Grundman and Steve Hilde were voted back in their seats with 745 and 646 votes, respectively.

For the third seat, there is a tie between Monica Klimek and Aimee Goodwin – each received 591 votes.

After contacting both the Secretary of State’s office and Minnesota School Board Association, Superintendent Gregg Allen said both organizations said the canvassing board (school board) must make a decision by way of lot – flip a coin, draw a name out of a hat, etc. The canvassing day is set for Monday, November 8 at the regular school board meeting.

PARKERS PRAIRIE

Residents in Parkers Prairie School District 547 had to choose four candidates to serve on the school board – seven people filed for those four positions.

The top four vote getters were Steve Inwards (777 votes), Judith Moeller (710 votes), Sheryl Myers (631 votes) and Lyle Oeltjenbruns (613 votes). Others included Meagan Moen (432), Karen Marotto (292) and Craig Marotto (285).

WEST CENTRAL AREA

Residents in West Central Area School District 2342 not only had to vote for school board members, they also decided whether to revoke the current five-year $950/pupil referendum and replace it with a five-year $1,370/pupil referendum.

The vote narrowly passed with 1,266 yes votes to 1,228 no votes – a difference of 38.

School board members elected included Charles Meidl (1,722 votes), Joann Jacoby (1,717 votes) and Janice Amundson (1,674 votes).

Tags: local news, elections 2010, school board, news, elections, politics