A proposal that would merge the Aberdeen and Hoquiam fire departments into one agency is failing to pass muster with voters, according to first returns on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

Proposition 1 received 53.39 percent of the “yes” votes, or 1,096 in favor, and 46.61 percent of the “no” votes, or 957 against in Aberdeen, the Grays Harbor County Auditor’s Elections Division reported on Tuesday. The ballot counts were as of 8 p.m. Tuesday for the 2022 Special Election.

Prop. 1 received 55.31 percent of the “yes” votes, or 661 in favor, and 44.69 percent of the “no” votes, or 534 against in Hoquiam. The proposition needs 60 percent of the “yes” votes in each city in order to be approved because of the complicated financial structure needed to pay for and maintain the would-be regional fire authority. The proposal failed by 14 votes in the November 2021 General Election.

The next ballot count update will be on Thursday, Feb. 10. There are about 1,500 ballots outstanding, but it was not clear as to the jurisdiction of those ballots on Tuesday evening.

The proposition, as put forth, would form the Central Grays Harbor Regional Fire Authority by combining the Aberdeen and Hoquiam fire departments into one agency. Among some of the benefits would be the addition of several new firefighters to help cover an expanding role for the departments in the Harbor.

North Beach

A 25-year, $110 million bond measure put forth by the North Beach School District is failing by a wide margin. The bond measure received 40.43 percent of the “yes” votes, or 1,107 in favor, and 59.57 percent of the “no” votes, or 1,631 against.

The bond measure would help pay for the rebuilding of Pacific Beach Elementary, improvements to North Beach Middle and High School and Ocean Shores Elementary.

Also, a levy renewal put forth by the North Beach School District is extremely tight with 49.46 percent of the voters saying “yes” and 50.54 percent on the “no” side.

Other levies

On a smaller scale, school districts in Cosmopolis, Elma, Hoquiam, Lake Quinault, McCleary, Satsop, Taholah and Wishkah Valley all went to voters for their blessing to help finance educational programs and operational expenses. Most of those proposals were well on their way to receiving voter approval.

A total of 9,254 voters, or 26.5 percent of the registered voters in the county, cast ballots as of Tuesday.