By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Both incumbents and one newcomer were elected to the Hays City Commission on Tuesday night.
Unofficial results are as follows:
Mason Hickel campaigned as a write-in candidate. Demetrius Chance is no longer a Hays resident.
All five city candidates were awaiting the updates and final non-official balloting results at the Ellis County Administrative Center, 718 Main.
Top vote-getter Shaun Musil, owner of the Paisley Pear Wine Bar, Bistro and Market, was first elected as a city commissioner in April 2013.
As in the past, Musil did a lot of door to door campaigning, and for this election he walked a record 31 miles.
"I enjoy talking to people about their concerns," Musil said. "Just because I voted something different doesn't mean I didn't hear what you said."
Musil said he remembers the things constituents have told him when he makes decisions about city issues as a commissioner.
"I can't always make people happy, but I remember the things people have said to me. I do my best ... ."
Musil noted the most talked about issue as he campaigned was the newly opened traffic roundabouts on north Vine Street.
"A lot of people, especially older residents, said they hated the roundabouts. Most of people said they love them now," Musil smiled.
Other residents expressed concerns about city department staffing as well as housing issues, an ongoing problem..
"To me, that says we can't let up."
Also awaiting results at the administrative center was Sandy Jacobs, the current mayor of Hays.
"I'm absolutely thrilled, and as always, really humbled by the confidence voters have put in me," said Jacobs, the second highest vote-getter. She has served the past five years, the first year being an appointment to fill an unexpired term.
The new commissioners will be seated in early January.
"One wonderful thing we do right out of the gate is have a commission retreat," Jacobs said, "and there's a lot of subjects that'll come out that day.
"We're going to continue to work on economic development, the workforce, and daycare."
Musil and Jacobs, who is retired from banking and as the Heartland Community Foundation executive director, will both serve four-year terms.
Reese Barrick, as the third highest vote-getter, will serve a two-year term.
"Most of the time I'm home watching how the results come in, so this is a fun new experience," Barrick said at the admin center.
This is his first time running for public office.
Barrick, director of the Fort Hays State University Sternberg Museum of Natural History, has been attending some city commission meetings in person and watching others online.
Still, he knows he has a learning curve ahead of him.
"The first thing is really just getting to know all the departments of the city a little bit better," Barrick said, "and getting a handle on what the issues are already out there before jumping into bringing new ones.
"The local issues are the ones that really the ones that hit closest to everybody's lives on a daily basis."
The other two newcomers, Sam Allen, and Mason Hickel, agreed the campaign experience was exciting and both said they'll consider running again.
The turnout total was 19.45% of eligible voters. There are still some ballots yet to be counted, including an estimated 40 provisionals.
Ellis County Clerk Bobbi Dreiling was disappointed by the low percentage and a little surprised.
"I looked at the statistics and anywhere between 25 and 28 percent is average for a local city/school board election," Dreiling said after electronic tallying was completed.
"So right now 19 percent is pretty low. ... I wish it was higher.
"We had some races that were really close. (USD) 489 is really close. Who knows what's going to happen when we do canvass."
The results are not official until canvassed by the Ellis County Commission which Dreiling says will be done Nov. 15 at 4:30 p.m.