Candidates put undecided elections aside

Efren Carrillo played soccer, and Rue Furch made a pot of spaghetti sauce.

"It was wonderful," said Furch, who finally found time at home in Sebastopol to make one of her favorite fall meals this week.

Carrillo, a Roseland resident who pounded the sidewalks during his campaign, enjoyed soccer with a team from River's End restaurant.

"There's no sense being impatient about it," he said.

Getting back to things they enjoy beats nail-biting, said the two contenders for the 5th District county supervisor's seat, who likely will wait at least 11 more days to find out which of them won the Nov. 4 election.

Furch and Carrillo are among about 18 local candidates who won't know for sure whether they won or lost until Sonoma County elections officials finish processing about 34,000 ballots and announce a final, official tally.

Carrillo is 670 votes ahead of Furch, who needs about 56 percent of outstanding ballots to go in her favor to pull out a victory.

The 1st District supervisor's race is also unsettled, with incumbent Valerie Brown 1,105 votes ahead of Will Pier, who is not conceding defeat.

Gloria Colter, assistant registrar of voters, said her office plans to determine the final count before Thanskgiving, which is five days before the legal deadline of Dec. 2.

Winners "will have a reason to give thanks," Colter said, while the losers "won't have to think about it anymore."

Furch, a county planning commissioner for 17 years, said Friday that she's returned to a normal routine, which included three community meetings this week. "All you really can do is put your mind onto something where you can make a difference," she said.

Everywhere she goes, Furch said, people are telling her they "have their fingers and toes crossed."

But finally having time to fix a home-cooked meal was a highlight of the past week, Furch said. "I had no discretionary time before this," she said.

Carrillo was a bit hoarse Friday from speaking at a Habitat for Humanity fund-raiser Thursday in Windsor. He grew up in Habitat's first Santa Rosa house, serves on its board of directors and never misses a chance to make a pitch for donations.

Carrillo said he's happy to be back at work full time as education and government-relations manager for Redwood Credit Union, and is enjoying time with friends and family.

"It's not about the campaign," Carrillo said of time he's now spending with his parents, who worked hard in hopes of seeing their son elected as the county's first Latino supervisor. "It's time to be Efren again."

Both Furch and Carrillo said there's no choice but to await the final tally, and they are confident the vote-counting is proper.

"I don't mind waiting," Carrillo said.

In the Cotati City Council contest, just 24 votes separate the third- and fourth-place candidates, Mike Kurvers and George Barich.

Other close contests involve the Cloverdale and Rohnert Park city councils, Windsor fire board, Bellevue and Forestville union school boards, Santa Rosa Junior College board and Sonoma County Board of Education.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com.