It took two elections and a ballot recount, but the City of Waterloo finally has a new mayor. Local businessman Buck Clark is the winner of the tight race. A three-member recount board completed a hand-count of the December 1st run-off election ballots late Thursday morning.
The review shows Clark beating city councilman Steve Schmitt by a margin of 55 votes. Schmitt requested the recount last week after the official canvass showed him losing to Clark by 50 votes (4,304 to 4,254). The recount confirmed the run-off election results, but the board counted an additional five absentee ballots that apparently weren’t read by the voting machines.
Those absentee ballots all favored Clark. The Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to certify the results on Tuesday, with Clark taking office on January 2nd. He’ll replace current three-term Waterloo Mayor Tim Hurley, who chose not to seek re-election. Schmitt, meanwhile, will return to his at-large council seat to complete the remainder of his two-year term.
By Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Waterloo