Tuesday’s special election had a strong focus on the $3.8 million bond referendum vote for the expansion of the Carroll Public Library, something that somewhat overshadowed the election for the at-large Carroll City Council seat. LaVern Dirkx was one of the candidates on the ballot, and says he did a minimal amount of campaigning as he believed the focus was exactly where it should be.
After securing the at-large seat into 2019, Dirkx says the council will now have to evaluate the outcome of that referendum vote as they work to bring the vision to reality.
Dirkx was at a friend’s house on Tuesday night awaiting the results and says they celebrated afterward. But the very next day, he was back to work on issues he thinks the council needs to address in the very near future.
Dirkx adds that he is relying on Chief Brad Burke to bring to light things he sees as concerns for the community as well as other trends the Police Department is trying to combat.
There are many people Dirkx wants to thank for the win and he says he is happy the voting citizens of Carroll saw him as a candidate that works hard and tries to listen to his constituents. He says, hopefully, his experience over the past 10 years in sitting on the Carroll Community School District Board of Education has shown he is a qualified and capable public servant. Dirkx won the election with 1,440 votes. Ronald “Woody” Beyer received 326 votes and Matthew Hodges had 725 votes in the special election.
