Signs were already coming out of yards early on Wednesday, April 3, the day after the 2019 consolidated election.
Unofficial vote totals show Jeremy Henrichs, an out-of-township candidate who has been on the Mahomet-Seymour School Board since the summer of 2018, in the lead in overall votes with 1,064 votes.
“I’m very humbled that many people would trust me to do the job; that obviously makes me feel good,” Henrichs said. “I need to continue to earn everybody’s trust, and I will continue to do that over the next four years.”
Out-of-township candidates following close behind Henrichs are Ken Keefe with 979 votes, Julie Cebulski with 965 votes and Jenny Park with 962 votes.
Candidates Meghan Hennesy and Colleen Schultz led the pack for the two in-township seats with vote totals at 1,053 (Hennesy) and 1,029 (Schultz). Although these totals are not considered final, Hennesy and Schultz have been contacted by candidates Lance Raver (941 votes), Jason Tompkins (936 votes), Mahomet-Seymour Board President Max McComb, Superintendent Lindsey Hall and board members Jeremy Henrichs and Lori Larson, who congratulated the candidates on their win.
“Ken, Meghan and Colleen ran good campaigns, and they worked very hard,” Henrichs said. “I texted them last night, and said I look forward to working with them.”
Vote totals may change over the next two weeks as the Champaign County Clerk’s office receives mail-in ballots. Although County Clerk Aaron Ammons did not know how many mail-in votes were still out in Mahomet, he did say that the ballots that are postmarked by April 2 and received within 14 days of April 2 will be counted.
Schultz told the Mahomet Daily, “I didn’t win, the community won.”
Hennesy, Schultz, Keefe and Cebulski ran campaigns focused on teachers and students. They also brought up issues of transparency and communication, which are what they will focus on once the votes become official.
“The kids won because we are going to put the focus back on kids,” Schultz said.
“I’m really humbled by all the votes and thankful to everyone who got out and used their voice,” Hennesy said. “I promise that I will be someone who listens to what they have to say, and I will continue to work for kids and teachers. I’m really humbled by the opportunity we have in front of us.
“I am overwhelmed and excited at the opportunity to get in and start doing work for kids and teachers. It was a long campaign, but I’m really excited to make a change here.”
Schultz said the higher-than-typical voter turnout in the Mahomet-Seymour consolidated election speaks of voters taking advantage of their constitutional right.
“I would also like to thank everyone who took time to study the issues and research the candidates,” Schultz said. “We had a higher-than-average voter turnout, and that is a credit to the people of Mahomet.”
Both Hennesy and Schultz would like to see some communication channels opened as they come into office, by creating spaces for two-way communication as the district moves forward with its goal-setting process.
Henrichs said the district is in the process of setting up those avenues for collecting feedback with the district’s new five-year strategic planning process that has been branded MSEngages.
The board began reviewing the strategic planning process based upon board goals and community feedback, just weeks before the election deadline.
“I think there are some big decisions that need to be made going forward about facilities and how we are going to respond to that,” Henrichs said. “I think the biggest thing in our strategic plan for the next five years is that we’ve got to hear from the community.”
The district will launch the process in the late summer and early fall months.
“We need to hear from our people who are stakeholders in the community: parents, families, business owners, taxpayers,” he said.
“We need to hear from them what’s important, and then make some decisions based on with our resources what we can do and how we can move forward.”
Henrichs said that Keefe, Hennesy and Schultz’s message may have struck a chord with the community, but with the vote totals, close on all accounts, he believes the community may still be divided.
“The message that Ken, Meghan and Colleen put forth obviously meant something to the voters,” he said.
“The votes were pretty evenly split. There’s really not a ton of difference as far as amounts of votes between individuals, so we’ve got a community that is kind of 50/50, which seems to be where we are at in the country all the time, anyway.”
Henrichs ran on the premise of taking care of the students’ well-being, particularly the athlete’s well-being. He has already begun working with Mahomet-Seymour High School Athletic Director Matt Hensley on mental wellness and nutritional programs to help students deal with the stressors in their life.
“I think some of those coping skills are lacking,” he said.
Although Cebulski will wait to see what final vote numbers are before knowing if she will occupy a seat or not, she said the campaign process has made her realize there are others out there with the same mission that she works towards every day.
“Since I announced my bid, I have been overwhelmed by the amazing support of the community. After all of my years of simply doing what I felt what right in my heart (advocating for children), I was essentially on a solo mission,” she said.
“But while running for school board, I realized that I had hundreds of people supporting me and everything I have already accomplished in my career and life. There is no other way to look at that except with happiness!”
Whether Cebulski is seated on the school board or not, she said that she is already back in the seat this morning working for kids.
“It is also Child Abuse Prevention Month,” she said. “I received so many positive messages about my work with children that I’m empowered to encourage more individuals to be involved,” she said.
“There are many activities this month that I encourage people to try. There is a CASA volunteer training April 16th and a terrific training called Darkness to Light Stewards Training offered several times this month through Crisis Nursery.”
She’s also in the trenches of preparing for post prom.
“Please consider helping with this event,” she said. “High school parents will be getting an email with details.”
After a late-night of nervous poll watching, Keefe was also getting back into the groove of life this morning.
“I’ve got about a million things to do at home that have been building up while I’ve been campaigning,” he said. “I’ve got a leaky washing machine, for example that needs taken care of. I’m just going to get back to normal life and wait for the results to come in.”
Keefe believes a big message came in as the final precinct closed last night.
“Given how many people voted for both sides, I think there was a pretty clear portion of the population that wants to see the board behaving differently and doing things differently,” he said.
But until the final results come in, Keefe wants constituents to know that he meant what he said while campaigning.
“I want to be in touch with as many people as I can to bring their input to the board,” he said. “Please know that I always have an open ear and am ready to listen. I’m ready to discuss some ideas.
“The other thing I want people to know is that I want to put the election behind us and the differences behind us, and I don’t care who people voted for, if I am finally elected to represent people, I want to represent everyone. Please don’t let your previous vote make you feel like you can’t talk to me and work with me.”
Henrichs said all of the candidates worked hard and deserve praise for their efforts.
“Jenny, Lance and Nezar (Kassem, who did not run for re-election) deserve a special thanks for their service to the community the past four years,” Henrichs said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Mahomet Daily also reached out to Jenny Park for a comment, and did not hear back before publication. We will make updates on final vote totals and any additional election information as it becomes available.
