Missoula City Council to Have Four New Members

By Emily Darrell, 11-07-07

	Caption: Jason Wiener and Pam Walzer are two of the new faces on the Missoula City Council.

11:30 p.m. The ballots from Missoula’s first mail-in general election were tallied Tuesday night and, unofficially, the 12-member City Council will have four new faces in 2008: Jason Weiner of Ward 1, Pam Walzer of Ward 2, Lyn Hellegaard of Ward 4, and Renee Mitchell of Ward 5.

Council Vice President Jerry Ballas of Ward 4 and Don Nicholson of Ward 2 were ousted. The two other incumbents running for reelection, Stacy Rye of Ward 3 and Ed Childers of Ward 6, held onto their seats.

A total of 23,660 ballots were counted, a voter turnout of 46 percent.

Voters voiced strong support for the Iraq War Referendum—65 percent to 35 percent—urging Congress to “authorize and fund an immediate and orderly withdrawal of United States military from Iraq in a manner that is fully protective of U.S. soldiers.”

Meanwhile, the Missoula County Public Schools’ request for a building reserve levy of $1 million per year for 10 years was narrowly defeated, 51 percent to 49 percent.

Here are the unofficial final results in the City Council races:

Ward 1: Jason Wiener: 64%; Justin Armintrout: 34%
Ward 2: Pam Walzer: 52%; Don Nicholson*: 47%
Ward 3: Stacy Rye*: 57%; Doug Harrison: 41%
Ward 4: Lyn Hellegaard: 53%; Jerry Ballas*: 45%
Ward 5: Renee Mitchell: 54%; Christine Prescott: 45%
Ward 6: Ed Childers*: 50%; Lewie Schneller: 48%
* Incumbent