2 votes separate Hager, Boetcher for water district’s Division 5 board seat

With 500 ballots still uncounted countywide, 2 votes separated the two candidates vying for the Ramona Municipal Water District Division 5 seat as of yesterday at 5:45 p.m. According to the unofficial results released Nov. 28 by the county Registrar of Voters office, incumbent Everett “Red” Hager Jr. has 1,500, or 50.03 percent, and challenger Patricia Boetcher has 1,498, or 49.97 percent, of the votes cast in the division in the Nov. 4 election.

The registrar’s office is scheduled to release official results of the election on Dec. 2. Unofficial counts for Division 5 released by the registrar’s office since the election have fluctuated as absentee and provisional ballots were counted. At one time, 1 vote separated the two candidates. The difference spread to 6 votes early this week.

Division 5 is one of five in the Ramona Municipal Water District, each represented by a director elected within the geographical boundaries of the divisions. Division 5 encompasses a large part of San Diego Country Estates. A map of the five divisions is at www.rmwd.org/boardofdirectors.htm.

Hager, a retired electrical engineer, is completing his first four-year term on the water board. Boetcher is a real estate agent.