Beth Wiese (left) of Montour and Elizabeth Dolezal (right) of Toledo were elected to the South Tama County Board of Education as part of the Nov. 2 city/school elections. The two new members will begin their four-year term on Monday, Nov. 15.

Several new candidates alongside mostly incumbents will be sworn in this coming January across the southern Tama County landscape following the combined city/school election that took place on Tuesday, November 2, 2021. The following results are results from the Tama County Auditor’s Office.

The election canvass took place Monday, November 8 at 10 a.m. at the Tama County Administration Building in Toledo with no discrepancies found in the Election Night numbers. The school board canvass will be finalized on November 15.

South Tama School Board

Two new faces will be joining the South Tama County Board of Education at a moment critical to the ongoing Middle School Referendum.

Elizabeth Dolezal of Toledo was the winner of the four-way race for STC’s District 1 seat, defeating Nikki Kemper Pansegrau and Tessa Matherly as well as incumbent Ronald Houghton who announced a write-in campaign earlier this fall.

Emily Babinat and Brian Hanus won election for two seats on the Tama City Council during the city/school election earlier this month. The new members will begin their four-year terms after January 1.

Following the Election Night win Dolezal was thankful for the support she received and eager to begin work on the board.

“I’ll be spending the beginning of my term learning from our sitting board members about the recent work the board has done and focusing on learning board policy and procedure, school finance, and continuing my work with the facility committee for the middle school,” Dolezal said. “I would love to contribute to future planning for the district by working with the board and administration to develop master facilities and capital improvement plans to prepare for ongoing operational needs.”

In District 4, Beth Wiese of Montour won a decisive victory over write-in challenger Luther Heller.

“When I heard that I would be a part of the school board, I felt very thankful and excited to serve our community,” Wiese said. “I believe it is a privilege to represent the parents, students, alumni, grandparents, and all of the community members.”

Dolezal and Wiese will be sworn in later this month and may immediately be faced with a decision regarding which direction to take the STC Middle School Project that appears on track for a March 2022 special election.

Both newly elected members said they hope to see good turnout in the November public meetings to help drive their decision making process about the Middle School Project in the near term.

Though the on-boarding curve may be steep, Wiese said she’ll do her best to hit the ground running in getting up to speed on the developments with the Middle School Project as well as new school board member training.

“I think it is important that we have a major consensus on how to move forward, and I think that happens when the majority of our community members get involved,” Wiese said.

For Dolezal, she has been close to both the Middle School bond efforts serving as a task force member both times.

“Having worked with the facility committee in one capacity or another for the past two years, I am prepared to share my views on a middle school referendum after hearing from the larger community at the upcoming community meetings,” Dolezal said.

South Tama School Board, District 1 (vote for 1)

Elizabeth Dolezal – 521

Nikki Kemper Pansegrau – 365

Tessa Matherly – 115

Write-In – 47

South Tama School Board, District 4 (vote for 1)

Beth Wiese – 784

Write-In – 165

Tama City Council

Tama was the largest community to see a contested city council race in Tama County this year.

Newcomer Brian Hanus won the most votes from Tama citizens by more than a ten point margin for one of two at-large seats up for election.

Incumbent Emily Babinat holds a narrow lead over fellow incumbent Matthew Beatty, 131 to 126.

Challengers Kristy Eisentrager and Randy Fairchild came in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Barring a change in vote totals following Monday’s official canvas, Hanus and Babinat will begin their four-year term in the first week of January.

Tama City Council (vote for 2)

Brian Hanus – 212

Emily Babinat – 131

Matthew Beatty – 126

Kristi Eisentrager – 73

Randy Farichild – 38

Write-In – 7

Toledo City Council

In Toledo, though there were no contested races on the ballot, the final outcome for the three council seats up for election is yet to be determined.

Mayor Brian Sokol won his second two-year term as mayor while incumbent council members Duane Pansegrau and Cathy Cook were each voted in for four-year terms beginning in January.

The seat previously held by Darvin Graham was won by former Toledo Council Member Terry Goodhart who was not on the ballot but received the most write-in votes with 31.

Toledo Mayor

Brian Sokol – 275

Write-In – 17

Toledo City Council (vote for 3)

Duane Pansegrau – 221

Cathy Cook – 194

Write-In – 104

Montour and Chelsea

The cities of Montour and Chelsea will soon welcome new mayors to their local governments.

Vicky Garske was the lone candidate running for the Montour mayor seat and challenger Leif Morris defeated incumbent Chelsea Mayor Craig Forcht 37 to 16 in unofficial totals.

A five-person race for three city council seats in Montour appears to have been won by Kelsey Staker, Dave Heckman and Alan Kelley.

On the Chelsea City Council, Melissa Osipchack and Amy Walters won the two open seats that were uncontested.

Montour Mayor

Vicky Garske – 50

Write-In – 33

Montour City Council (vote for 3)

Kelsey Staker – 53

Dave Heckman – 49

Alan Kelley – 47

Susan Eberhart – 36

Doris Walsh – 36

Write-In – 23

Chelsea Mayor

Leif Morris – 37

Craig Forcht – 16

Write-In – 0

Chelsea City Council (vote for 2)

Melissa Osipchack – 30

Amy Walters – 29

Write-In – 18

Iowa Valley Community College Board

Joanna Hofer of rural Toledo was again the lone candidate vying for the Iowa Valley Community College District 6 director seat. Hofer was first elected in 2017 and will soon begin her second four-year term on the Iowa Valley Community College Board of Directors.

Iowa Valley Community College District 6 Director (vote for 1)

Joanna Hofer – 862

Write-In – 15

RURAL AREA ELECTION RESULTS

Elberon Mayor

Scott Pippert – 36

Write-In – 3

Elberon City Council (vote for 3)

Judy Upah – 36

Adam Glunz – 31

Rynonda Franzen – 29

Write-In – 6

Elberon City Council (to fill a vacancy, vote for 1)

Nancy Braasch – 24

Linn R. Snell – 2

Travis Upah – 1

Clutier Mayor

Gordon Fassett – 34

Write-In – 2

Clutier City Council (vote for 5)

Phillip C. Breja – 35

Keith Erickson – 35

Gary Pearson – 34

Sue Kupka – 32

DeAnn Weber – 31

Write-In – 8

Vining Mayor

Steve Rouse-14

Vining City Council (vote for 5)

Merlin Rouse-12

Shaye Betz-12

Daryl Bazal-9

Fred Vore-9

Jeff Vore-9

Tama County Totals

Registered Active Voters – 9,829

Votes Cast – 2,185

Turnout Percentage – 22.23% turnout