Ballot measure 2-140 – “community safety, mental health and homelessness services facilities,” appears to have a slim chance of passing after the preliminary results from the Secretary of State’s website showed that 57.07% people voted against the measure.

According to the Benton county website, as of Wednesday, the voter turnout was at 38.77%. 

This is the fourth time a bond measure for the correctional facility is being proposed.  Xan Augerot, vice chair of the Benton County Board of Commissioners, said that with respect to the Sheriff’s Office and correctional facility, she and other Benton County officials will take a step back and reevaluate.

However, since the ​​Benton County courthouse and the District Attorney’s office is already funded through the state (50%) and the county funds (50%), Augerot said that the county is working on final engineering design and site development permitting, and is expected to break ground in coming months.

“The Emergency Operations Center funding is not entirely dependent on the bond, and we may have other short-term options to proceed with that element of the JSIP project,” said Augerot. “The Mental Health Crisis Center will break ground within the next few weeks also, at its downtown site.”

For the board member position of the Corvallis school district, all except one position were unopposed. Chris Hawkins is currently leading at 82.63% against her opponent Steven Castellano (16.18%) and is projected to win.

For more information and the final result visit the Benton County special election website.