Bruce Loveland and Marian Clennon were the only two school board candidates who remained at the school district offices until the final votes were in – about 1 a.

Wednesday, November 03, 1999

Bruce Loveland and Marian Clennon were the only two school board candidates who remained at the school district offices until the final votes were in – about 1 a.m. Loveland emerged "pumped and excited," Clennon emerged happy that four new faces would be on the board.

In the end, the four top vote getters were Larry Andersen, Kathy Green, Bev Nordby and Bruce Loveland. Retired Austin High School teacher Andersen was the top vote-getter, with 2,824 votes. Green was close behind, with 2,668 votes; Nordby had 1,935 and Loveland 1,807. The next closest was Sue Maus, with 1,425 votes.

Anderson found out when his wife, who had stayed up to hear the results on KAUS, woke him shortly after 1 a.m.

"I am thankful and grateful that the people bestowed that trust in me," Andersen said this morning after the retired teachers’ breakfast. "I will try to live up to that."

The former teacher said he was very pleased with the results of the election.

"I’m very happy with the people that got in, it’s a nice mix," he said. "There’s diversity and some sharp minds – add that to the three that are on there right now and I think we’re gonna have a board you can be proud of."

Loveland said this morning he was pleased that the people sent "a strong message to the board that they had higher expectations."

"I wanted them to vote for the referendum and to vote for new leadership and that’s what happened," Loveland said. "The four I voted for got on – I just had a feeling and I was optimistic."

Bev Nordby was unavailable for comment when the Austin Daily Herald went to press, she is at a meeting in Rochester for most of the day today. Kathy Green was almost unavailable – she said her phone hasn’t stopped ringing since she found out at 6 a.m. Her brother even called at 7 a.m. from Florida after reading the results on the Herald web site.

"My first thought was ‘yes, yes, yes’," Green said. "That was when the radio said the referendum had passed overwhelmingly. Then I heard the four incumbents had been ousted – that was a strong message. Then, they went down the list of those who got seats.

"I’m looking forward to working with the board – I think there’s a lot of work that needs to be done. I’m ready to do that."

Green also credited the 13 other candidates.

"Having 17 candidates put education issues on the forefront and got people out to vote," she said. "They should be thanked."