Newly elected Portage Township School Board member Troy Williams said Friday he’ll focus on “moving forward” and “understanding the nuts and bolts” of the board.
After the dust of Porter County’s general election debacle last Tuesday night settled, Williams, a first time candidate and police chief in Portage, was declared the winner of the Dist. 1 seat over retired education administrator Joan Machuca, also an election novice.
Williams captured 58 percent of the vote to Machuca’s 41 percent, according to the Porter County website.
The win comes months after Williams’ contentious interactions with the school board and schools Superintendent Amanda Alaniz over Alaniz’s decision to fire Portage police officers as school resource officers, ending a 20-year relationship between the schools and the police department.
Machuca said she was “very disappointed” in the loss, congratulated Williams and said she hopes Williams’ “differences with the school district and the administration will be resolved.”
Machuca thanked the voters but said the three-day delay in releasing the results was very frustrating.
“That disenfranchisement of the voters was probably my largest concern,” she said, adding she hopes Porter County officials will give voters “a clear explanation” of what happened in Tuesday’s election
Other Porter County school board races
Portage Township
• District 1:
Troy Williams – 58.52 percent
Joan Machuca – 41.48 percent
• District 2:
Mary Clancy – 49 percent
Scott Falk – 28 percent
Rhonda Nelson – 21 percent (incumbent)
• At-large:
Andy Maletta – unopposed (incumbent)
Duneland (Chesterton)
• At-large:
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Alayna Lightfoot Pol – 45 percent
Robert Filipek -26 percent
Rhonda Turner Day – 16 percent
Stephen Rohe – 11 percent
Liberty Township
Brian Nicholas Custy – 38 percent
Ronald (Red) Stone – 61 percent
Westchester/Pine Township
Brandon Kroft – unopposed (incumbent)
East Porter
• District 1: Richard McSparin – unopposed (incumbent)
• District 2: Elizabeth McFalls – unopposed
• District 3: Bob Martin – unopposed (incumbent)
Boone Township
• District 1:
Keith Buchanan – 70 percent
Richard Milcarek, Jr. – 29 percent
• District 2:
Gerald Michalak – 67 percent
Tim Riese – 32 percent (incumbent)
• District 3:
Stephanie Mathews – 55 percent (incumbent)
John (Jeff) Nilsen – 44 percent
Michigan City
At-large: Peggy Rose – unopposed
At-large (top 3)
Joanne Tedesco – 25.86 percent
Theresa Edwards – 25.78 percent (incumbent)
Thomas Dombkowski – 25.38 percent (incumbent)
Agnes Meer – 22.98 percent
Porter Township
• At-large:
Johanna Williams – unopposed (incumbent)
• District 1 – no candidate filed
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• District 3: Laura Chavez – unopposed (incumbent)
Union Township
• At-large:
Stacey Buehler – 70 percent (incumbent)
Keith Wade Anderson – 29.99 percent
• District 2:
Michael Simatovich – unopposed (incumbent)
• District 4:
Julie Giorgi – unopposed (incumbent)
Meredith Colias-Pete contributed.
Michael Gonzalez is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.