Election Results Are In!

The election is over!


For Position 6: Bryan Michalsky won with 55.8% of the vote.  (2931 votes to 2322 for Majors)
For Position 7: Charles Griffin won with 48.6% of the vote.  (2569 votes to 1846 for Blackman, 635 for Howard, and 233 for Powell).  


My take-away: 

1. 5283 voters cast ballots.  YEAH!  While this is still well under 5% of the registered voters in the district, it is more votes than those cast in recent years by a good bit, particularly since this was a 2-seat race with no real hot-button issue: 
• 2008: 4893 voters.  3-seat races typically bring out more voters.
• 2009: 2063 voters.  2-seat race.
• 2010: 1744 voters.  2-seat race, but Fox was unopposed.
• 2011: 4544 voters.  3-seats plus a hot-button issue: teacher layoffs.
2. It would appear that a lot of new voters came to the polls.  That is a good thing-- people in Katy are beginning to pay attention to and understand what is happening in the community and do what is necessary to protect it.  We are no longer in an environment where it works to express your overall satisfaction with the district by NOT voting.  
3. Many new people worked on the various races, and that is a VERY good thing.  More engagement by a broader base of people means more viewpoints factored into our trustees' decisions.  
4. Enough people voted for Griffin to avoid allowing Blackman to win with 35% of the vote.  That's exactly how Huckaby won last year.  While I respect Neal Howard and his service to the board, incumbents faced huge challenges this year.  Just check out Ft. Bend ISD's election results.  I appreciate Betty Powell's willingness to run for the board and hope she will continue to be engaged in the process.  I hope she will do Leadership Katy next year and be a resource to new board members regarding technology.   

Is it over yet?  Already rumors of voter fraud and tampering are being spread by the Nay-Sayers.  Lawsuits are being threatened. Fortunately, Mrs. Blackman's and Mrs. Majors' husbands served as poll watchers and witnessed the counts.  Although there was a technical problem with the electronic voting machines, the election judges waited until all issues were resolved before announcing results around midnight.  Perhaps a good night's sleep will help people see there was no wrong-doing, just as there was none last year.  

Now, the real work starts:  The new board will have to form a new team (because the board as a WHOLE, not individuals, oversees the district's management).  That will be difficult, given that Proctor and Huckaby hand-picked and openly campaigned for Majors and Blackman, including Instant News Katy  comments, robo-calls and mass e-mails.  I hope the remaining five members can move Proctor and Huckaby to work for the good of the district rather than for power plays.  I also hope the new board can make a commitment to stop infighting and get out of the way of the district's regular business.  Too much has been put "on hold" for the past year. 

"A bend in the road is not the end of the road...unless you fail to make the turn."

--Unknown