LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The races for the boards of several county school districts and a community services district were decided during Tuesday's general election, which saw a low local turnout.

On the ballot Tuesday were board of trustee positions for the Mendocino-Lake Community College District, Upper Lake Elementary School, Upper Lake High School and Lakeport Unified School District.

In Hidden Valley Lake, voters also selected three new members for the Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District Board.

For the Mendocino-Lake Community College District seat, retired Lake County Superintendent of Schools Dave Geck of Kelseyville won election to a seat he's filled by appointment.

He received 56.6 percent of the vote, or 1,907 ballots, to defeat Derek Tippit, also of Kelseyville, who received 1,443 votes, or 42.8 percent, according to elections returns posted Tuesday night.

Voters selected Ron Raetz and Mel O'Meara to fill two seats on the Upper Lake Elementary School District Board. Raetz received 388 votes (40.8 percent), followed by O'Meara with 359 votes (37.8 percent). Walt Christensen finished third with 203 votes, or 21.4 percent.

In the Upper Lake High School District, where another two seats were decided, Keith Austin was the top vote getter, receiving 518 votes (35.9 percent), followed by Richard Swaney with 488 votes (33.9 percent) and Wanda Quitiquit, who received 430 votes, or 29.8 percent, the Lake County Registrar of Voters reported.

Three seats were open on the Lakeport Unified School District Board of Trustees. The field was led by Phil Kirby, 27.8 percent or 760 votes, followed by Wally Cox, 26.8 percent, 732 votes; Lori Holmes, 23.2 percent, 633 votes; and Renee Teverbaugh, 22 percent, 600 votes.

In Hidden Valley, Jim Freeman, Jim Lieberman and Carolyn Graham were elected to the Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District, according to the election returns.

Freeman received 215 votes (16 percent), followed by Lieberman, 205 votes (15.2 percent), and Graham, 183 votes (13.6 percent).

Also in the field were Michael H. Sand, 165 votes (12.3 percent); Lyle La Faver, 156 (11.6 percent); Frances Bunce, 153 votes (11.4 percent); Bob Barton, 153 votes (11.4 percent); and Wanda Harris, 109 votes (8.1 percent).

Of Lake County's 16,990 registered voters, only 3,532 – or 20.8 percent – cast ballots by mail and in person for the Tuesday election, according to the Lake County Registrar of Voters.

Only 819, or 4.8 percent of registered county voters cast their ballot in local precincts, with 16 percent – or 2,713 voters – voting by mail.

That turnout is the lowest reported in a Lake County election over the last five years, according to archived election data on the Lake County Registrar of Voters' Web page.

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