For Uniontown residents, something important is missing on their November ballots.
It is a levy for Whitman County Fire District #14, which includes Colton, Uniontown and the surrounding rural areas, which would provide EMS and other vital services.
While other voters received a ballot with the levy, those in Uniontown did not.
Whitman County Auditor Sandy Jamison released a statement on October 13 saying special ballots with the initiative will be mailed out to Uniontown residents.
Uniontown Mayor Wesley Kerr emphasized the importance of the levy in the Uniontown Facebook group.
“If District 14 can’t get this levy to pass, there is a very real chance they will no longer be able to afford their contract with Lewiston ambulance for transportation and EMT service,” Kerr said. “Meaning there is a very real chance you might die waiting for transport. Also, this levy would help with much needed deferred maintenance.”
Jamison said the reason the initiative was left off of the ballots is because the office had no record of the annexation of Uniontown into Fire District #14, which happened in the early 2000s.
“After diligent research and examination of available records from the early 2000’s, I found no record that the annexation of the Town of Uniontown into Fire District #14 had ever been properly recorded with the Auditor’s Office,” she said. “Since it has been over 20 years since this Fire District has run any type of levy, I was unaware of any issues until now.”
Those who have already received their ballots should complete them, she said, as both ballots will be processed.
“These ballots will go out as soon as we can prepare them but it is going to take a few days,” Jamison said. “I anticipate mailing these out by the end of the week.”
Jamison did not reply to multiple requests for comment at the time of press.
Cece Cook, who lives in Uniontown with his husband Jason Cook, said he was aware of the levy before ballots were sent out because of a presentation by the fire district at one of the city council meetings.
Cece Cook said he knew that the levy could save lives, so when it wasn’t on the ballot he was very concerned.
This isn’t the only time he has had concerns, as Cece Cook said there have been issues in years past.
“And then this time we’re having a whole levy left off the ballot, and then I heard something from another member in the community that there’s a levy regarding the library system that is also left off the ballot,” he said. “So I am definitely very concerned about the errors that are happening on our ballots as of recently, it seems like a lot and it seems like it’s happening more frequently.”
The Whitman County Rural Library District confirmed on their Facebook page on October 15 that many voters in Endicott, Farmington, Garfield, Lamont and Malden received a ballot that did not include the Whitman County Rural Library District Levy.
The post said a supplemental ballot with the levy will be mailed to voters between October 19 to 23.
According to the libraries website, the levy is an existing tax and the proposal would raise library funding from $.396 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $0.45 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The levy would fund things like paying library staff, technology and operations.
Cece Cook said he doesn’t know exactly what needs to happen to ensure there aren’t mistakes on future ballots, but that the current issues need to be looked into.
“Transparency,” he said. “Why are we having so many errors as of late? I think investigations definitely need to take place.”
Whitman County Fire District #14 said in a statement for Inland News Northwest when they became aware of the ballot issue they found work to resolve it was already well underway.
“The Commissioners and members of WCFD 14 appreciate the swift response of our County Auditor, Sandy Jamison and the elections office,” they said. “Ms. Jamison, the elections staff, and many other county departments worked quickly to address the issue at hand.”
Cece Cook said he picked up his ballot from the mail today. Additionally, Uniontown residents Heather Taylor and Geri Winters said on Facebook that they received their ballots today.
0 Comments