March 28, 2024

PCM voters reject revised Revenue Purpose Statement

Witt, Nearmyer elected to fill school board vacancies

The Jasper County Auditor's Office has released the unofficial results of Tuesday night's special election in the PCM Community School District.

Nearly 400 voters went to the polls in both Monroe and Prairie City, resulting in a turnout of slightly more than 10 percent. No absentee ballots were requested in the election, according to the Auditor's Office.

The primary purpose of the election was to vote upon a revised Revenue Purpose Statement for the district's share of the statewide School Infrastructure Local Option Sales Tax. The proposed measure failed to receive the necessary simple majority of "yes" votes Tuesday.

The RPS received 212 "no" votes and 178 "yes" votes. That means the current RPS will remain in effect for the district until a new one is adopted in a future election. State law requires a six-month wait between votes, so it cannot appear in the upcoming regular school election in September.

Also on the ballot were two school board vacancies. Grant Hjortshoj and Steve Nearmyer had been appointed to fill the seats for director districts 5 and 7, respectively. State law required both seats to go up for election when the RPS special election was called.

In Director District 5, Hjortshoj chose not to seek election. Instead, two candidates filed to appear on the ballot: Jane Witt and Twyla Flickinger. Witt was the apparent winner Tuesday night, 185-169. There were 14 write-in votes cast.

However, Witt reportedly told the Prairie City News last week that she had withdrawn herself from the race. County Auditor Dennis Parrott reportedly told the newspaper she had not notified his office of her intent to withdraw.

As the apparent winner, she can decline to accept the seat.

In the Director District 7 election, Nearmyer defeated 2012 PCM High School graduate Zachary Pendroy, 244-96. There were 45 write-in votes cast in that race.