MOSES LAKE - Former Grant County undersheriff Ken Kernan is the new Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District director.

Official election results placed him ahead of opponent David Skaug by about 800 votes.

MLIRD announced the official election results Tuesday.

After combining results from votes cast on Dec. 11 and absentee votes mailed in to the district, Kernan received a total of 2,409 votes, while Skaug received 1,607 votes.

The vote to increase the MLIRD board of directors from three to five also passed, with a total of 3,174 'yes' votes cast and 798 'no' votes cast.

Kernan will sit as director at the first MLIRD meeting in January. He said that he is looking forward to representing MLIRD ratepayers and working with current directors.

"I think it's a great bunch of people to work with, and I think we can get the job done," he said.

Kernan said the first thing he wants to do as director is call for a special election in order to find two more directors to create the five-man board that voters recently approved.

"The people have expressed a desire for a five-man board, and I totally agree with that," he said. "Unfortunately, that can't take effect until the next election at the end of next year."

Kernan said if the directors agree, a special election can be held so that the additional two directors can be elected by mid-year.

"The first thing I'm going to put on the table is to call for a special election," said Kernan. "That way we get a more diverse group in, we get better representation and it lessens the chance of any chaos on the board."

Kernan said he is thankful for the opportunity and responsibility ratepayers have given him.

"I have to thank David for the clean campaign, and thank my supporters for electing me," said Kernan. "I'm looking forward to finally having the opportunity to create what I believe will be a congenial working condition and getting our lake back to the quality I think it should be at."