A tie-breaker, or "run-off" vote scheduled for Tuesday to decide between two Oysterponds board of education candidates has been cancelled.
District Clerk Susan Forte said the run-off election, scheduled for Tuesday between 3 to 9 p.m., was unnecessary, because candidate Betsy Dzenkowski had withdrawn from the race. The vacant seat on the board of education will go to Dorothy Dean-Thomas, the incumbent board of education president.
The run-off election was initially scheduled because the Dzenkowski and Dean-Thomas tied in the May 21 election, with 157 votes each.
In May, voters approved the Oysterponds 2013-2014 $5.35 million budget by a vote of 160 to 116.
The budget reflects a tax levy decrease of 2.27 percent and a spending decrease of .07 percent.
Residents, however, defeated a proposition to establish a capital reserve fund by a vote of 129 to 136. "It was very close," said Forte.
Drama unfolded in the school district regarding the board of education election on the day of the vote. Charles Squire withdrew two hours before the election, citing personal reasons. Of the remaining four candidates who threw their hats into the proverbial ring, Dzenkowski and Thomas tied. Thomas Stevenson received 193 votes; Alison Lyne received 160. A write-in candidate, Thomas Gray, received 7 votes.
"We're so happy the budget passed," Forte said. "That's what it's all about."
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