News

The 5th Annual Morgan Hill Marathon didn’t disappoint the hordes of athletes who ran the marathon, half and 5k that chilly Sunday morning on Nov. 2.

With vote by mail ballots received through Sunday counted and all precincts reporting, county election officials expect there are still between 4,500 and 5,500 outstanding vote-by-mail ballots that arrived Monday and Tuesday of this week and might sway the results of some of the closer races.

After it became clear Measure J would pass Tuesday night at initiative supporters’ headquarters, Congressman Sam Farr told the crowd that their efforts could “wake up” the rest of the state’s counties and communities throughout the nation. Farr in an interview after the speech, however, told the Free Lance he wasn’t opposed to cyclic steaming, a practice banned in the local initiative and one that is used at a massive oil field in his home county.

Retired San Benito High School Principal Tim Shellito believes the victory for supporters of Measure J – set to ban all enhanced petroleum extraction countywide – shows that “John Q. Public” is alive.

Both city and county voters are headed toward rejecting separate proposals to increase the hotel tax from 8 percent to 12 percent in the area, according to early election results.

Jim West, Chris Martorana and Tony Boch took the early lead in the race for three open San Juan Bautista council seats, according to early results released Tuesday.

The Nov. 4 Election Day brought a wave of new and familiar faces to school boards across San Benito County. Of the 17 school races in the county, eight garnered enough qualified candidates to appear on the ballot for a deciding vote. 

The Hollister School District's Measure M, which proposed a $28.5 million general obligation facilities bond to fix leaky roofs, upgrade classrooms and improve campus security, had the lead in the latest release of election results.