Four candidates advance to April council election

Carolyn Thornton assists a voter Tuesday during the primary election for Nevada City Council candidates.

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

The results were tallied in short order for the Nevada City Council primary election held on Tuesday.

Fewer than 700 people voted in the election, held to narrow a total of seven candidates to four, two for a three-year seat, and two for a one-year, unexpired term left vacant by Dick Meyers, who resigned in December, citing personal and professional reasons.

The four candidates selected will continue to the April general election -- Jim Rayburn and Mike Hutchens for the three-year term; and Tim Wells and Joe Kraft for the one-year term.

Melissa Earll, Rayburn and Hutchens were vying for the three-year seat and Kraft, Clinton McKenzie, Jayne Novak and Wells were on the one-year ballot.

For the three-year term, Hutchens was the top vote getter with 456 followed by Jim Rayburn with 328. Melissa Earll, with 249 votes failed to make the cut this time around.

The one-year contest was more evenly divided. Tim Wells took the most votes with 316, Joe Kraft received 283. They will go on to the April 3 election. Jayne Novak with 254 votes and Clinton McKenzie, with 202 votes, also failed in their bids for election to the Nevada City Council.

Two tax issues affecting Vernon County also will appear on the April 3 ballot -- a one-half-cent sales tax to fund the construction of a new jail and other law enforcement needs for Vernon County, and a one-half-cent sales tax proposed to generate funds for the Vernon County Ambulance District.