The Monterey County Elections Department released updated results Friday afternoon, showing two school district seats still in play, with another 8,500 ballots left to process next week.
At the Monterey County Office of Education, incumbent David Serena edged back into the lead as of the latest tally, but was ahead of challenger Sergio Alejo by only 27 votes.
One open seat at Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is also still in play, with Carole Dawson leading Timothy Chaney by just four votes.
Dawson, as well as a third candidate Richard Gold, each dropped out of the race and endorsed Chaney, but it was too late to remove their names from the ballot. Dawson says she'll take the seat if she holds her lead and wins.
Meanwhile, the measure M and K initiatives, which both lost at the ballot box, cost the Fort Ord Reuse Authority an estimated $1 million, FORA Director Michael Houlemard reported at a meeting of Monterey County mayors on Friday.
The mayors group also discussed a letter they'd released knocking Measure M, and basically rewrote the minutes from their last meeting—which did not include a record of a discussion on M and K—to clarify their position.
"Our minutes should probably reflect what actually happened," said Pacific Grove Mayor Bill Kampe, chair of the group. All agreed.
What they recalled was that no position on M or K was taken, but instead a unanimous position by those present (Kampe wasn't there) on land use policy and the voter initiative process.
"All the mayors present felt that was wrong," Del Rey Oaks Mayor Jerry Edelen said. "Each mayor felt the citizens should determine their own boundaries."
They effectively endorsed Seaside's position knocking the county voters at-large having a say in the city's land use decisions. Monterey County Superior Court Judge Kay Kingsley denied the city's lawsuit, and let both measures stay on the Nov. 5 ballot.