Marian Clennon has conceded the Austin mayoral election to Mayor Tom Stiehm after a hand recount Thursday morning produced the same results as election night.

“I have peace of mind now,” Clennon said after the recount. “I will never wonder ‘What if.’ I feel at peace because I saw the ballots and I saw the markings (on the ballots).”

Clennon said she called Stiehm to congratulate him on his victory after the recount was finished.

“He told me, ‘Nothing is going to change. Let’s work together, and let’s start from square one,’” she said.

Stiehm said he and Clennon will be able to put aside the election and the recount for the sake of the city.

“If she’s willing to start over and get on with things, all I want to do is do what’s best for the city,” the mayor said. “I can put anything aside to do what’s best for the city. That’s my main goal.”

Clennon said the election results, particularly the recount, will not affect her working relationship with Stiehm.

Clennon, who lost to Stiehm by 1,699 votes, requested a recount Tuesday afternoon. She said she wanted to make sure the voters’ ballots were counted as the voters intended.

City and county officials, along with election judges, hand counted ballots from three Austin precincts and found that ballot counting machines did not cause any errors in the count.

“I was very happy to see that our machines counted at 100 percent accuracy,” City Clerk Lucy Johnson said. “That kind of reaffirms our beliefs that they count accurately. It shows the public that there really isn’t much that the machines miss.”

Stiehm agreed that the results are reassuring in that respect.

“I thought maybe one or two (votes) would change, but the fact that none changed is good,” Stiehm said. “It just shows our system is working how it should.”

The recount took place Thursday morning since city and county officials had a holiday in honor of Veteran’s Day, and recounts must be done during off hours so as not to interrupt regular business.

The cost of the recount so far has been $350, which is how much Clennon paid out of pocket as a down payment, and she does not anticipate it costing much more, if anything.