Ashmore, Fuller, Lund Lead Centralia School Board Race

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In the most heavily contested races the Centralia School District has seen in a long time, incumbents Kim Ashmore and Robert Fuller and challenger Jami Lund are currently leading, according to preliminary election results.

For Director Position 2, Ashmore is ahead with 1,604 votes, or 55.06 percent of the vote, followed by challenger Ron Averill with 1,309 votes, or 44.94 percent.

Ashmore said he was pleased with preliminary results and said the numbers were favorable thus far.

“I’m very thrilled and humbled the people want me there for four more years,” he said. “I live and breathe Centralia and the voters have reconfirmed that. They trust me and want to help lead the schools and be responsible for those kids.”

Ashmore thanked the voters for what he called a “vote of confidence.”

Ashmore, who is currently the board president and is a Centralia High School graduate, comes from a family of educators. He’s been on the board for 8 years and also works for the city of Centralia.

His main focus is improving the district’s graduation rate

Averill, a former commissioner, educator and dean of social sciences at South Puget Sound Community College, also wants to see the graduation rates improve in the district. His strengths come from a background in government at the local, state and federal levels.

Although not pleased with the results, Averill said it was hard to tell how the remainder of the votes would go. With a lower turnout than expected, Averill said he thinks that hurt him.

“I think I might do well in the later count, but whether I can close it 300 votes, that will be tight,” he said.

Averill has not given up and said he will sit and wait until more results are counted. He hopes the board continues to move in a positive way. The next count is Wednesday, with an estimated 3,000 ballots left to count across the county.

“I just hope that we have some board members that will help push (Superintendent Mark Davalos) in the right direction and keep things going,” he said. “Jami Lund has a significant enough of a vote to get on the board, that will be a step in the right direction. I’d like to be there along with him.”

Fuller, who leads the race for Director Position 3, is a long-standing incumbent and has been on the board for 33 years.

He brought in 1,848 votes, or 65.67 percent of the vote, while challenger Tara Bittler has 34.33 percent of the vote.

Fuller is excited to see the school district move forward under the direction of new Superintendent Davalos.



With two grandchildren in the school district, he said he is heavily invested and wants to ensure they get the best possible education.

Fuller also said looking into a facility study would be important since the newest building was constructed in 1969. With no major remodels in 34 years, he said it would be an issue that needs to be addressed.

Fuller did not return a call for comment.

Challenger Bittler said she largely dropped out of the race and was no longer actively campaigning.

For Director Position 4, Lund leads the race with 1,646 votes, or 58.29 percent of the vote, possibly ousting incumbent Chris Thomas who had 41.71 percent of the vote.

Lund said he felt grateful for the results and thanked the voters for their support.

“I know that what I was asking the community to do is to consider change and against an incumbent, so that’s a big request to make for Centralia,” he said. “I’m grateful they supported the idea of change.”

After seeing the results of elections change from preliminary numbers, Lund said he is taking it one step at a time until the results are certified.

Lund is a policy analyst for the Freedom Foundation and has worked in the state Legislature on education policy. He is running on the platform the district needs a more active school board and wants to provide services to families invested in the district.

He cited facility issues, high dropout rates, and students moving to other districts as key issues to focus on.

Incumbent Thomas is a Centralia High School graduate and has served as vice president of the board.

Disappointed with the numbers, Thomas said overall he is proud of the work the board did over the past four years, helping to revamp the leadership team, hire a new superintendent and implement new goals for the district.

“It’s easy to vote for change, but I don’t know if the majority of the people out there realize how much change we’ve actually gone through in the last four years,” he said. “People were swept up in the need for change message by Jami.”

Thomas said the district is heading in a great direction and unfortunately it looks like he may not be there with them. He hopes Lund will work with the board and not push his own agenda, he said.