Unofficial election results from Wednesday evening. Final canvass will be held and final results certified at the Oct. 9 assembly meeting.

Voters Tuesday chose William Prisciandaro to serve on the Haines Borough Assembly; a second seat, however, is too close to call.

According to unofficial election results, Prisciandaro received 449 votes. Paul Rogers received the second most votes with 394. Sean Maidy trails by three votes at 391. Barbara Mulford received 369 votes. With 50 outstanding ballots left, the second seat is too close to call and will be determined after the canvass at the borough assembly’s Oct. 9 meeting.

Rogers said he’s not too excited about the close call but will wait patiently for the canvass. “It is what it is,” Rogers said. “You just have to let the process work its way through.”

Maidy said this year’s election was similar to last year’s close race. “It was close last year and it wasn’t for sure until it was finished up,” Maidy said. “There’s no use really worrying about it until we know for sure.”

Commercial fisherman Prisciandaro thanked voters for supporting him. “I feel great that people in town supported me. I’m excited to get in there and start continuing to move Haines forward in a good way, a sustainable way.”

Mulford said she’s disappointed in the results, but wished luck to Prisciandaro and whoever lands the second seat. “I very much appreciated this community, all of the support I received, the suggestions and comments and want to thank everyone who voted-whether for me or not,” Mulford said.

Mud Bay, Lutak and Haines Highway residents rejected raising their property taxes to pay for an on-call police service area. Haines Highway voted it down by the widest margin with 96 voters against the proposition and 35 in favor of it. Mud Bay residents voted against the proposition, 69-40. Lutak voted against it, 14-10. Fifty outstanding ballots could possibly change those results.

On Wednesday, borough manager Debra Schnabel authorized acting police chief Josh Dryden to respond to calls outside the townsite that he “discerns to be emergencies,” including requests for assistance from EMTs, state troopers and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Police chief Heath Scott is on leave recovering from back surgery.

Schnabel said she will inform the assembly at its Oct. 9 meeting about her need to have “explicit direction from the assembly to deny on-call police protection to residents outside of the townsite.”

Assembly member Tom Morphet’s initiative to elect certain advisory boards and commissions failed 563-267. Morphet said he takes responsibility for the proposal’s failure and said he should have better explained it to voters by going door-to-door and holding a public forum. “I don’t think voters appreciated or could fully appreciate how much pressure those committees exert on the assembly,” Morphet said.

Voter turnout was 37 percent.

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