Introducing Your Newest San Lorenzo Village Homes Association Board Members

After officials counted more than 3,400 mail-in ballots at yesterday's San Lorenzo Village Homes Association (SLVHA) Board of Director's meeting, Catherine Kavasch and Steven Kirk were announced as the newest board members.

More than 5,700 ballots were mailed out to Village residents in mid-December. Kavasch received 1,533 votes and Kirk had 1,164 votes, while the third candidate, La Narce Thomas, received 712 votes.

Kavasch and Kirk will fill the seats of current board member Wulf Bieschke and the vacancy left by Kathy Martins after she stepped in as temporary SLVHA administrator. Former administrator Nancy Van Huffle retired sooner than expected due to health problems.

"I think any one of the three would have served the community well," Martins said. "I'm grateful there was actually an election this year."

With the exception of last year's recall of Brenda Carr, the SLVHA has not held a board election in the past four years.

On Feb. 16, the SLVHA will hold three consecutive meetings. The first is the annual member meeting, where board president Art Wydler will present a recap of events from this past year. The regularly scheduled board meeting will come after, followed by the installation of the new board members, where they will officially be seated.

However, the board does not plan on selecting the new board officers during the meeting. Martins said they will likely vote on this during a board meeting in March.

That same evening will be Bieschke's last day as a SLVHA board member after serving on the board this past year. Due to medical reasons, he will not be able to attend.

Bieschke was the only candidate to run after the recall of Brenda Carr. Because it was a recall, an election had to take place rather than him getting the position through acclimation. As the only candidate on the ballot, Bieschke won the election.

Though he's looking forward to working with the new board members, Wydler said Bieschke will be missed as an "effective evaluator."

"We appreciated his thoughtful and analytical approach in discussion of topics," Wydler said. "I'm glad we have a full and complete board now. I think it'll be a good and productive year."