Goodrich- From one vote to nine.
A one vote deficit in the school board election swelled by eight votes following the certification of the election results last week.
Incumbent school board trustee Chip Schultz had lost his Nov. 4 reelection bid by just one vote to newcomer Jeff Brown following the Nov. 4 election. The unofficialresults for the school board election
had challenger Jeff Brown with 1,324 (21.27 percent) votes and Howard Schultz with 1,323 (21.26).
However, following the certification the official results jumped to 1,476 (21.39 percent) votes for Brown to 1,467 (21.26 percent) votes for Schultz’now a new difference of nine votes. Overall, the
certification increased the total votes by 152 for Brown and 144 for Schultz.
John Gleason, Genesee County Clerk and Register of Deeds, reported the news of the recount on Wednesday night.
‘We had to wait for the Lapeer County certification,? said Gleason. ‘There are votes in the Hadley area that are in the Goodrich School District. We received the additional votes on Tuesday from Lapeer’it is not unusual for about a week to go by’it takes time to certify the election. We did not contact the outcounty areas until Tuesday following the Nov. 4 election. The margin for Brown is now 9 votes adding the additional eight.?
‘By rights he could still ask for a recount,? added Gleason. ‘But that big of number is difficult to overcome.?
Now that the official results from the election are in then Schultz can apply for the recount. The County Board of Canvassers officials will review his request and decide the fate of the petition.
‘I’m not sure if I’ll ask for a recount,? said Schultz on Thursday afternoon. ‘It’s a lot to overcome and I’m just going to take the weekend to think about it.?
Due to the area incorporated by the school district the recount will include votes from Atlas, Groveland, Grand Blanc, Hadley, Davison and Grand Blanc townships. There are a total of nine precincts that would participate in the recount. If approved, Schultz would pay $10 per precincts for a total cost of $90.
Schultz had been on the school board for three years.
Schultz, 46, is a fire and arson investigator for the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. He was also assigned to Milford High School in Highland Township as a school liaison officer after serving with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office as a road patrol deputy in addition to various jail duties. He has lived in Goodrich for seven years with three children who currently attend district schools.
Three Goodrich Board seats will open up in 2016.