Washburn School board left with unfilled seat after election
By Adam Thomas, BHG News Service
The Washburn school board met on June 8 at 8 p.m., just an hour after the polls closed on the school board election taking place downtown. The results of said election didn’t take long to make it up to the boardroom for the tense moment of envelope-opening anticipation before the winners were announced. In the only contested contest for a position on the school board, incumbent Shelly Charging won a comfortable victory over challenger Kit Baumann, 131 votes to 75. Rick Tweeten, running unopposed for his position, reined in 193 votes in his anti-climatic victory. The remaining open seat for a rural representative had no official candidates in the election. However, Brad Sheldon, the board member whose seat was up for election, had the most write-in votes with 14. Board president Steve Reiser asked Sheldon if he would be interested in serving another term on the school board to which Sheldon replied that he would need time to consider the decision. The board then agreed to give him a day to think it through. Sheldon would later decline to serve another term, which leaves the board 60 days to appoint someone to the position. Because the seat will be filled via appointment, the term of the appointed member will be one year and the position will be up for election again next year.
