Initial election results released Tuesday night indicated a slight edge for supporters of the Measure G capital facilities bond for San Benito High School.
With all precincts reporting – and provisional ballots left for counting – the unofficial figures showed a 56.57 percent to 43.43 percent margin of support for the bond, which needs 55 percent of the vote to pass. The numbers mean it would necessitate about three-quarters of the remaining 1,789 ballots to include “no” votes on the bond in order to make it a close contest.
Numbers showed that 2,625 voters supported it, with 2,015 against the measure in the ballots tallied as of 11:43 p.m. Tuesday.
“Well you know, I guess I should be doing back flips, but I don’t know how many provisional votes are out there,” said Ray Rodriguez, a San Benito High School District trustee.
The congratulatory emails and texts were pouring in Wednesday morning, but Rodriguez is reserving his enthusiasm for 5 p.m. Friday, when the next update will be posted online and the results will include more of the outstanding votes.
As of Thursday morning, there were an estimated 1,789 votes that still needed to be counted, said Angela Curro, the assistant county clerk recorder for the registrar of voters.
The estimated number of uncounted votes was more than 500 ballots higher than numbers announced Wednesday. According to staff, more citizens dropped their vote-by-mail ballots at the polling stations than original estimates anticipated. This boosted the total number of uncounted votes from an estimated 1,200 ballots to more than 1,700 today.
Given the new numbers, 70-75 percent of the outstanding ballots would have to come in with no votes to sway the outcome of the initial election results.
“It looks very positive right now, and if it’s to continue – which I hope it does – to stay at 55 (percent) or above, I just think it’s a wonderful thing for our students and our teachers,” said John Perales, the district superintendent.
For Perales, getting this facilities bond is an opportunity to bring the campus up to par with neighboring districts including the high schools in Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Prior to accepting his current position earlier this year, Perales worked in the Gilroy Unified School District and was the founding principal of a public high school.
“Ultimately, our kids and staff are the winners. I walk in the classrooms and kids are sweating (from the lack of air conditioning). How can you learn? Then you drive 20 minutes north and you’ve got state-of-the-art facilities at Christopher and Gilroy High School,” Perales said.
According to district officials, the top three priorities for the $42.5 million facilities bond include a new vocational education complex, modernizing 64 classrooms and adding 37 new classrooms.
Other priority items include improving the student pick-up and drop-off system; adding site parking; and potentially moving the pool to a less-centralized location to make room for more classrooms in the heart of campus.
District trustees approved this prioritized list of five facility projects designed by a Community Facilities Committee – including staff members, other residents and architects – in February.
The bond would result in a tax of about $30 per $100,000 of assessed value on homes in the district over the bond’s 25-year lifespan.
For the full text of Measure G and a complete list of facility projects that could use money from the measure, go to: smartvoter.org/2014/56906/03/ca/sbn/meas/G.
For updated results, go to sbcvote.us.
