By Wayne Gates

Brown County voters have spoken once again, in larger numbers than in years past.

The countywide school safety levy was rejected nearly two to one, with 65 percent voting against to 35 percent voting in favor.

In other countywide races, incumbent Brown County Auditor Jill Hall won re-election with 73 percent of the vote over challenger Margaret Triplett with 27 percent.

“I would like to thank the voters of Brown County for their confidence in me and I look forward to serving them for another four years,” said Hall.

State Representative Doug Green also won re-election against challenger Jeff Richards and Brown County Commissioner Tony Applegate was unopposed for another four year term.

Brown County Prosecutor Zac Corbin was the chairperson of a citizens committee that supported the school safety levy.

He said he was disappointed that the levy didn’t pass, but added that he understood the objections that voters had.

“I don’t believe that people who voted against it don’t take school safety seriously. I know that they do. I think that one of the concerns was the continuing nature of the levy,” Corbin said.

He added that one of the reasons to make the levy permanent was the idea of hiring additional school resource officers.

“I think it would have been very difficult to do this on a shorter term, because if you are going to hire school resource officers throughout the county, it’s hard to do that and tell them that their jobs are only safe for a certain amount of time,” Corbin said.

As for future plans for the levy, Corbin said that more work has to be done.

“That will be something that the local school districts will discuss and see if there another way to get this done. I do think that student safety is of paramount importance and I think everyone agrees on that. Maybe we just need to take another look at it and see if there is another way to get it done.”

One of the other high profile issues on the statewide ballot was Issue 1, which would have substantially reduced penalties for drug offenses.

It failed statewide by an almost two to one margin, with 64 percent against and 36 percent in favor. In Brown County, the measure fared even worse, with 81 percent of Brown County voters voting against it.

Corbin and nearly every other elected official in the county, including all three judges and the sheriff, came out against Issue 1.

“I was encouraged to see that it was rejected soundly. I was especially encouraged and proud that Brown County voters rejected it by 81 percent. That shows me that people took the time to become educated and realize that Issue 1, if passed, would have been a catastrophe,” Corbin said.

“I do not believe that decriminalization is going to work. I think we need to continue with harsher penalties for drug traffickers. I don’t think they are harsh enough.”

When asked what changes he thinks need to be made, Corbin said “I would like to see more resources and options for drug treatment. A big area where we are hurting is a lack of resources for good in-patient treatment.”

He added that he feels it should be harder to change the Ohio constitution.

“I think our state legislature needs to take a look at our constitutional amendment process. I think we need to take a look at making it more difficult to amend our constitution. If we are going to change our constitution, it should be with a super majority of at least two thirds of voters approving a constitutional amendment.”

Voters in Georgetown voted 55 to 45 percent to pass a 7.1 mill EMS levy, which will pay for 24 hour coverage for village residents.

Village Administrator Art Owens said he was grateful to Georgetown residents.

“I was very elated to see that the levy passed. I would like to thank everyone who voted yes, and let everyone know that this is about the people of the village taking care of each other.”

He said that he was ready to take the next step right away.

“The people of Georgetown will be safer as a result of this vote. I plan to sit down with the fire chief and start planning on how to increase EMS coverage as soon as possible.”

Georgetown Fire Chief Joey Rockey was also pleased with the results of the vote.

“I’m glad that the public supported us and I can’t wait to get this rolling and continue to move forward.” Rockey said.

In other results, Brown County voters were generally in line with state results, with the exception of the Ohio senate race.

Incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown won re-election with 53 percent of the vote statewide to 47 percent for challenger Jim Renacci. In Brown County, Renacci received 69 percent of the vote.

Regarding state offices, it was a big night for Republicans in Ohio from the governors race on down. Attorney General Mike DeWine won the race for Governor against Richard Cordray with 51 percent of the vote.

GOP candidates Dave Yost for Attorney General, Frank LaRose for Secretary of State, Keith Faber for State Auditor and Robert Sprague for State Treasurer were all successful as well.

Second District Congressman Brad Wenstrup also won re-election, winning 58 percent of the vote against challenger Jill Schiller.

A number of other levies for libraries, police, fire, EMS or current expenses were on the ballot.

Voters in Aberdeen rejected a police levy 53 to 47 percent, while levies for the libraries and the villages of Fayetteville, Higginsport, Mt. Orab and Russellville passed.

Levies were also passed in Huntington, Jackson, Lewis and Perry townships.

For complete election results, go to https://brown.ohioboe.com/election-info/election-night-results/

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