CONGRATULATIONS,
MAYOR JERRY BOHN!

On Monday, October 25th, 2004, Victoria had 3,410 registered voters, according to Victoria City Clerk Jennifer Kretsch.  On the morning of Election Day, November 2nd, 2004, there were 3,422 registered Victoria voters. 
Total number of registered voters in Victoria at the end of Election Day isn't known as of this report, but at least 2,975 Victoria residents cast ballots for mayor, and at least 3,383 Victoria residents cast ballots for a presidential candidate.  Seems voter turn-out in Victoria could be around 80% or even 90%, depending on how many people registered on the actual day of voting.
Election results are not official at this time, but it's pretty safe to say that Mayor Jerry Bohn keeps his mayoral seat, having garnered a large margin of victory.
First time candidate Kim Roden re-ceived the second largest number of votes, winning a seat on the council for the very first time by an impressive, unofficial, margin over two incumbent candidates. 
Incumbent Richard Tieden squeaked out a few more votes than incumbent Dave Lindgren -- again, unofficially.
For the very first time in the history of Victoria, the city was divided into two separate precincts.  Those residents in Precinct #1 north of Highway 5 numbered 980 prior to November 2nd; they voted at the Victoria City Hall.  Those residents in Precinct #2 south of Highway 5 numbered 2,442 prior to November 2nd; they voted at the Victoria Field House.
On Tuesday morning, the day of the election, residents were standing in line at both precincts, in the rain, waiting for doors to open.  By noon, the sky was clear and the sun was bright and beckoning to voters.
Unofficial tabulations of those who voted in Victoria, MN, are as follows:

The Victoria Tally:
President of the United States
*Bush/Cheney (R)                      2,303
Kerry/Edwards (DFL)                1,057
Others                                              23

U.S. Representatives, District #2
*John Kline (R)                          2,301
Teresa Daly (DFL)                        916

MN State Representative
*Paul Kohls (R)                          2,434
Dick Stolz (PNP)                           708

Mayor of Victoria
*Jerry Bohn                                2,117
Troy Walsh                                    858

Victoria City Councilmembers
*Kim Roden                               1,567
*Richard Tieden                         1,231
Dave Lindgren                           1,186
Jeff Winship                                  899
Brian Sund                                    243

EMAILS AMONG CITY COUNCILMEMBERS
OPEN MEETING LAWS MUST NOT BE VIOLATED
Councilmember Mary Thun asked a question about the Open Meeting Laws and how communication among city councilmembers may or may not be in accordance with those laws.
"Maybe our policy needs to be more formalized," she said.  "I'd like to know exactly what we can do by email."
City Attorney Mike Norton stated that if all councilmembers were online, that is, of course, a quorum.  If a quorum of city councilmembers is meeting, it must by law be a public meeting.  "You can be accused of violations," he said.  "You must be sure there is not a majority of councilmembers doing this."
City Administrator Steve Sarvi said that Open Meeting Laws exist "so that the council doesn't make decisions away from the eyes of the public."  There is no way, for example, for the Victoria Gazette to report to residents and others the City Scoop that transpires among emails of city councilmembers and staff.
Steve will review how the Internet relates to Open Meeting Laws.

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