{"id":76289,"date":"2023-11-08T08:07:34","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T14:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=76289"},"modified":"2023-11-08T08:07:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T14:07:36","slug":"usd-489-boe-will-see-new-faces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=76289","title":{"rendered":"USD 489 BOE will see new faces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By RAEGAN NEUFELD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early, unofficial election results show Allen Park as the only incumbent to retain his seat on the Hays USD 489 Board of Education, joined by newcomers Derek Yarmer and Ruth Ruder. The margin is narrow between all three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craig Pallister could also retain his seat, but the available results show him tied with Jayme Goetz. The two candidates are tied for the fourth and last open position \u2014 each with 1,486 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yarmer was the top vote-getter with 1,735. He was followed by Park (1,657) and Ruder (1,571). Lori Hertel, an incumbent, received only 869 votes \u2014 ninth-best in the 10-person field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Ruder, this election was the first time she had run for public office. While she participated in the candidate forum<\/a>, she campaigned through personal communication with voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did not do any door-to-door because I\u2019m not the type of person that likes people coming to my door and I\u2019m not on Facebook,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019m always available for texts and calls. I got several phone calls or texts about where I stand on certain issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to pre-election questions from Tiger Media Network<\/a>, Ruder said she believes in the potential of the district and its impact on the community. On election night, she spoke specifically of the bond issue passed in May 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited that our boys get to play football and soccer in a stadium that\u2019s ours,\u201d she said. \u201cGod bless Fort Hays State for all those years, but it\u2019s cool to have our logo in the center of the field and all of those fun things. I\u2019m also excited for the good learning environment; that\u2019s what I\u2019m most looking forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Park\u2019s and Yarmer\u2019s responses to various topics such as the bond, the inner workings of the board and why they want to be on the board can be found in the forum video as well as in the questions from TMN. For example, Yarmer said his reason for running was because he wanted to make sure the district followed through with the bond at the price they promised. Park wants to ensure students and their families have opportunities like he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race for BOE was crowded this year, with 10 candidates vying for just four positions. David Clingan, who received the fifth most votes (1,196), spoke of this factor when asked about the election process. Like Ruder, it was his first time running in an election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s four positions open and 10 people running, all bringing different qualities,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s great to see a community turn out for such a position like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When available, the updated unofficial results, and eventually the official results, will be posted on the Ellis County website<\/a>. All results are unofficial until canvassed by Ellis County commissioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voter turnout was 22.7%, with 4,468 ballots cast out of 19,698 registered voters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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