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ELECTION: Hetherington, Jones battle for second airport board seat

Hannah Jones
Staff Writer

The race for two seats on the Truckee Tahoe Airport District Board of Directors is almost as close as the race for Truckee Town Council.

After both Nevada and Placer counties released updated totals Tuesday, Jim Morrison currently has 5,023 votes followed by Mary Hetherington with 3,972 votes and Jones with 3,932. Other candidates Joe Lorenz and Peter Van Peborgh each have less than 5 percent of the vote.

The race intensified days before the election when two sitting directors on the board expressed concern over the nature of campaign contributions made to incumbents Morrison and Jones, who are running a re-election committee together.



Director Lisa Wallace requested a discussion on the issue be placed on the board agenda, after she said she learned of two contributions totaling nearly $15,000 from the owner of Mountain Lion Aviation, operating out of the Truckee Airport. Jones called Wallace’s statements “disingenuous” and “inappropriate,” considering she was publicly endorsing Hetherington.

Ballots must be counted from both Nevada and Placer counties in this race, as the airport district spans into both jurisdictions.



Nevada County officials have yet to count a remaining 19,800 ballots, including provisional and conditional ballots and those that may have been damaged. Results will not be updated until Dec. 6.

Placer County updated its results Tuesday afternoon. It is unknown how many ballots remain to be counted in that region.

Hannah Jones is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. She can be reached at hjones@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2652.


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