Mapleview recount upholds election results

Michael Langstaff and Kris Finley remain the city of Mapleview’s newest city council members after city and county officials upheld the Nov. 4 election results in a public recount Tuesday.

County officials say the recount showed the same number of votes for Langstaff and Finley, at 51 and 43 votes, respectively. Runner-up Pam Vaughn got 42 votes in the election.

A city or township with less than 400 people that has an election decided by 10 or less votes is automatically considered for a public recount funded by local governments, according to Auditor/Treasurer Doug Groh. Yet a recount doesn’t take effect until someone formally requests it.

Vaughn’s request prompted the recount. Vaughn allegedly expressed concerns about missing ballots, according to county officials, but all ballots were accounted for in Tuesday’s recount.

After write-in campaign, Ulwelling to become Rose Creek mayor

Rose Creek will soon have a new mayor after a write-in vote for the position almost left the job up in the air.

Rose Creek City Council Member Kent Ulwelling will become the city’s mayor as of Jan. 1.

Ulwelling, 54, had the most votes out of the 22 candidates written in during the Nov. 4 election with a tally of 12. Council Member Wendell Sprung came in second with 11 votes.

Initially, Ulwelling didn’t know if he could accept the position because he served on the council, which led to speculation that the seat was up for grabs.

Yet he has decided to serve after he checked with the League of Minnesota Cities to see if he would violate campaign laws by becoming mayor.

“It’s an office that I’ve got some experience in,” Ulwelling said Tuesday.

Ulwelling has served on the city council on and off over the past three decades and was mayor of Rose Creek in the 1990s.

There were 145 Rose Creek residents who voted during this year’s election, and seven absentee ballots were also sent in.