McGinness, Swesey, Cook, Fields and Hoelscher Win Iowa City School Board Election

Even with all the bad press for the school board in the last year, current Iowa City school board president Patti Fields said Tuesday night that she thought she'd be able to win re-election.

"I was confident that my six years of service were of value to the community," Fields said.

It appears she was right, although barely.

With 4,485 votes in, Fields was re-elected to the board, narrowly hedging challenger Phil Hemmingway by 96 votes, according to the unofficial tally of Tuesday's election. All election results are unofficial until the official canvass of votes, which will be conducted by the Johnson County Board of Supervisors this Friday at 4 p.m.

Fields said she is excited to rejoin board members Tuyet Dorau and Sarah Swisher, to help a group of four newcomers get acclimated to the board. Sally Hoelscher, Jeff McGinness and Marla Swesey also won four-year terms on the board. Karla Cook defeated Julie VanDyke to fill departing board member Mike Cooper's two-year term.

Marla Swesey, who collected the most votes from those vying for the four-year terms, said she was grateful for the quality of candidates who applied who ran for the board. She received 2,970 votes, or 66 percent of the vote.

"We had a lot of really good candidates, and there (were) a lot really good discussions and I hope that continues," Swesey said. "I learned from the other candidates."

Swesey said that the board's goal should be to regain the trust of the community when it comes to handling the budget and providing access to the board. She said it was also important for her to work with the other board members as a team, and to put the students first.

That will work just fine for Jeff McGinness, who said one of his main goals is to harness the intense interest in the school district into a positive asset.

"My goal is to take advantage of that (interest) instead of letting that turn into a negative," McGinness said.

He said one of his main goals is to get acclimated with the board process, and to get to know the other board members so he can develop a good working relationship with them. He noted that he also shares many common goals with those who won Tuesday night, including improving district planning, community relations, and getting a better handle on the budget.

Sally Hoelscher agreed with McGinness that the winning candidates have much in common with what they emphasized. She said her goal is to improve transparency, long term planning, and relations between the board and the public.

"Something that came up a lot during the forums is the community feels that the board hasn't been very accessible," Hoelscher said. "Accessibility to the community is important to us as well as improving transparency of the board to the public."

Karla Cook, who is serving just a two-year term compared to the four years of her compatriots, said she wants to get up to speed quickly.

"In order to be more effective, I need to get ready a little faster (than the other new board members)," she said. "I also think because of my experience in the district, (it) will allow me to do that."

Cook echoed the other board members in saying that improving relations between the board and the community will be vital to its success.

"I'd like people to understand how the district functions and why things are done they way they are done," Cook said.

Cook said that the new board could have a grace period due to having so many new faces in the board seats, but that won't last forever.

"We do have to live up to our promises and what we told people we were going to do," Cook said. "But, I think we can do that."

Also passing in Johnson County, with 81 percent of the vote, was a Kirkwood Community College bond issue extension. Kirkwood officials have said they plan to use the bond, expected to generate $46.5 million over 15 years, in part to build three regional educational centers, allowing high school students to gain both high school and college credit simultaneously. Johnson County was one of seven counties where the measure was on the ballot.

Johnson County is a likely destination for one of these centers.

Highest Vote total since 1995

With a final vote total of 4,485, there was just an 89 vote increase from the voter total in the 2009 election. Still, according to the Johnson County Auditor, 4,485 is still good enough for second most votes in school board election 32 years, second only to 5,814 in 1995. Both years had bond issues associated with them.

Final Unofficial Results

Jeff Alden 933

Patti Fields 1,905

Phil Hemingway 1,819

Sally Hoelscher 2,299

Jeff McGinness 2,852

Robert Porter 1,587

Marla Swesey 2,970

James Tate 572

Karla Cook 3,159

Julie VanDyke 850

Kirkwood Bond (60 percent needed)

Yes 3,899 (81 percent)

No 889 (19 percent)

Total Voters: 4,485

For more information about all of the candidates click and for more past coverage .

High Turnout Reported Throughout the Day

The turnout for the Iowa City School Board election so far today (as of 3 p.m.) has been the highest since 1995, and the second highest in 32 years, according to the Johnson County Auditor's office.

As of 3 p.m., 1,799 votes had been cast, or 2.39 percent of all registered voters, according to the Johnson County Auditor's website.

The auditor's office issued a news release about the higher than normal turnout this morning:

The last year in which turnout was higher at 11 AM was 1995, when the bond to construct Wickham School was on the ballot. 1,011 voters had gone to the polls by 11 AM in  1995.

The high turnout is likely due to the unusually high number of spots open of the board, with as many as five new members possible on a seven-person board.

Polls stay open until 8 p.m. Stay tuned to Iowa City Patch come for final results.

Click to find out where to vote and what will be on the ballot.

Click to view our Voters Guide for this election.