Jacobs Leaps Over Waldeck in Mill Valley School Board Race

Over the past several days, Clifford Waldeck has received a number of congratulatory calls over his in the race for a seat on the board.

Each time, Waldeck has been careful to remind his well-wishers that his mere 12-vote lead made it far from certain that he would join top vote-getter Leslie Wachtel as the two new school board members taking office in December.

Now Waldeck is on the outside looking in.

After the majority of the approximately 1,500 mail-in ballots were counted by the end of the day Thursday, Waldeck’s fortunes were reversed. Waldeck led by a vote of 2,821 to 2,809 after a count of regular ballots and early mail-in votes Tuesday night, but now trails Jacobs by 13 votes, dropping to third place. Jacobs now has 3,376 votes to Waldeck’s 3,363, according to the latest Marin County’s Elections Office results.

“I’m still optimistic that the number will turn back my way,” said Waldeck, a Mill Valley native who served on the Mill Valley City Council from 1995 to 2003 and has been on a wide array of boards and commissions over the years. “You’ve got believe.”

Marin County Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold said election officials will continue counting the remaining mail-in ballots – around 200 – on Monday, as county offices are closed tomorrow for Veteran’s Day. Additionally, there are approximately 175 ballots within the school district that have been tagged as provisional because of some irregularity related to the voter’s eligibility. Provisional ballots that are approved will also be counted, she said.

Jacobs, the former science teacher who drew on his vast pool of former students in his campaign, could not be reached for comment.

Wachtel, who and leaned on the deep ties she developed in her 20 years as a parent in local schools, extended her lead with the additional counting, jumping from 3,926 votes, or 40.98 percent, to 4,789 votes, or 41.45 percent.

Faced with a long weekend of wondering about the outcome of the election, Waldeck said he’d be best served by not worrying about it.

“I’ll keep myself busy over the week so I don’t stew on it too much,” he said. “But regardless of how it turns out, I know that I’m a better Mill Valley School District parent as a result of having gone through this process.”