By C.J. Carnacchio
Leader Editor
For those who have ever wondered if their vote actually matters, just ask Oxford Township officials.
Their proposed five-year, 0.75-mill increase for police services failed by just two votes in Tuesday’s general election.
Voters turned down the requested tax hike by a margin of 2,885 to 2,883.
Without the increase, the township has indicated it would have to cut staffing by up to five officers at its Oakland County Sheriff’s substation.
Township Supervisor Bill Dunn said there will be a recount.
‘With this much at stake riding on two votes, it would irresponsible to not have a recount. One vote the other way and it’s a tie,? Dunn said. ‘If the (recount) result’s the same, then we’ll have another election. If that fails, then we’ll do what we have to do.?
On the bright side, the township’s three-year, 2.9152-mill renewal for police services was overwhelming approved by a margin of 4,045 to 1,752.
Incumbents Bill Keenist and Colleen Schultz survived three challengers to retain their seats on the Oxford Board of Education for another four years.
Schultz was the top vote-getter with 3,207, while Keenist came in second with 3,017 votes.
They both edged out school board challengers Bryan Thomas (2,648), Lisa Kempner (2,538) and Rhonda Yell (1,248).
Results include votes from the entire district, which encompasses portions of Oxford, Addison, Brandon, Metamora, Dryden and Hadley townships.
Results posted on the Oakland County Clerk’s website do not include the three townships in Lapeer County.
Out in the Village of Leonard, incumbent council members Paul Almeranti and Larry Hoffman retained their seats with 103 and 96 votes, respectively.
Write-in candidate Gerald Birr just barely edged out fellow challenger John Verse for the third council seat. According to the unofficial tallies, Birr beat Verse 50 to 49.
Incumbent Douglas Noaker ran unopposed for a partial-term seat on the Leonard council and won with 103 votes.
In the race for Oakland County Commissioner District #1, Republican Beth Nuccio defeated Democrat Ken Quisenberry 11,919 to 5,904.
Republican Brad Jacobsen will be headed to Lansing to serve in the state House as he won his race for the 46th District seat. He beat Democrat David Lillis 24,364 to 9,240.
Republican Jim Marleau will switch from the state House to the state Senate as he won the seat to represent the 12th District. He beat Democrat Casandra Ulbrich 56,446 to 34,444.
Voter-turnout in Addison was 53.99 percent with 2,645 of the township’s 4,899 registered voters participating in the general election. Of those, 1,058 voted straight-ticket Republican while 250 voted straight-ticket for the Democrats.
Of Oxford Township’s 14,473 registered voters, a total of 7,245 (or 50.06 percent) participated in yesterday’s election.
Of those, 2,482 voted straight-ticket Republican while 854 voted straight-ticket Democrat.
Oxford and Addison voters followed the rest of the state by selecting Republican Rick Snyder (a.ka. the ‘tough nerd) over Democrat Virg Bernero as Michigan’s next governor.
In Oxford, Snyder defeated Bernero 5,300 to 1,737.
In Addison, Snyder beat Bernero 2,038 to 535.
All of the results in this story are considered unofficial until certified by the county board of canvassers.