A total of 27% of registered voters participated in Jefferson County’s May 21 special district election, where a long-planned $20.4 million bond to expand the public library fell short of approval.

District board races were also decided, with Jacob Struck keeping his school board seat, Scott Leeper and Benjamin Anderson winning fire board seats, and Sean Gallagher overtaking incumbent Paul May on the education service district board.

As of May 23, 4,699 votes from registered voters had been counted and reported in the Jefferson County special district election, representing that 27% voter turnout rate.

Voters rejected the library expansion 53% to 47%. Of the county’s 17 precincts, only three backed the $20 million library proposal, Agency Plains, Warm Springs and West Madras. It tied in the East Madras precinct.

“We are disappointed, of course,” said Jefferson County Library District board member Stephen Hillis. “We have tried to be fastidious in protecting the community’s money, while also offering the services they want. Staff doesn’t have room currently, and we can’t offer expanded services at the current size. Our community is growing, the library needs to be expanded, we wanted to do that with a sensible, functional library that serves our community.”

The bond planned to expand the footprint of the library, over tripling its square footage and expanding the services it offers, creating separate child, teen and adult sections and private meeting rooms.

The expansion has been in the works for almost a decade. The board set aside funds and has spent nearly $1 million in library funds, community donations and grants to begin preparing for it.

The bond itself asked voters for a total of $20,400,000 in two even increments. The bond rate requested was 56 cents per $1,000 in property value. For a $400,000 home (about average for Jefferson County), the bond would cost about $224 a year when fully executed.

“We can’t get grants without the community support, so it’s much harder now,” said Hillis. “We will be having some serious conversations about what we can do, we were already asking for the lowest amount possible, and we don’t want to build something that will be outdated in two years. It’s a tough decision moving forward, but we need a bigger library, so we are going to have to keep trying.”

Special District Boards

The race for Jefferson County School District 509J board position 3 was won by incumbent Jacob Struck, who received 64.2% of the vote, 1,204 of the votes. Struck is the incumbent, having held the position for four years. Struck beat Demus Martinez, who received 35.29% of the vote, 903 votes.

Scott Leeper and Benjamin Anderson were elected to the Jefferson County Rural Fire District #1 Board. Two positions appeared on the ballot, with Phillip Johnston and Leeper running for position 1 and Gabrielle Beebe and Anderson running for position 2.

Leeper beat Johnston 54.81% to 44.4%, 1,190 votes to 964. Anderson topped Beebe in a tight 51.02% to 48.34%, 1,122 votes to 1,063.

The two board seats were vacated by Chris Dupont and Dustin Miller.

Sean Gallagher won the Jefferson County Education Service District board position 4 over incumbent Paul May. Gallagher received 66.88% of the vote, 1,498 votes. May received 32.1% of the vote, 719 votes.