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Medford city races hold steady Chun widens lead for Ward 1, Berryman retains mayoralty in a landslide By Jessica Smith Ed Chun widened his lead Wednesday in the race for the Medford City Council�s only wide-open seat. Little else changed in other Medford races, with Tuesday�s early trends holding Wednesday as county elections officials continued tallying votes. By 6 p.m. Wednesday, with about 57 percent of the ballots counted, Chun had collected about 46 percent of the 3,526 votes cast in the Ward 1 race. His opponents, Mark Soderstrom and Janet Meyer, received 29 and 25 percent of the vote, respectively. Chun said he felt "pretty confident" about his apparent win. "The city has already congratulated me on my victory. My opponents have called and congratulated me also, so I�m definitely feeling good about it," he added. Late Wednesday afternoon, Chun drove through rain showers in his north Medford neighborhood to pick up lawn signs and other campaign materials. He said it was his "consistent message" to voters that likely gave him the edge in the race. "I ran on a pretty nondescript agenda," focusing mostly on quality of life in Medford, Chun said. "But I felt I shouldn�t have my own pre-set agenda. I should be doing what the citizens want." Mayor Lindsay Berryman is apparently doing what Medford wants. Wednesday evening, Berryman�s vote tally held at about 81 percent of the 13,606 ballots cast in her bid for re-election against Susan Hand. Councilmen John Michaels and Bill Moore also held onto their leads late Wednesday. Michaels, running against Rachel Chartier for his Ward 3 seat, had about 60 percent of the votes in his favor. Moore, challenged by Medford Planning Commissioner Dennis Nielsen, took about 70 percent of the votes in that race. Councilman Sal Esquivel, the only unopposed candidate, was elected to a second term. Meanwhile, a proposed 50 percent increase to the city�s transient lodging tax gained more support Wednesday. By 6 p.m., Measure 15-19 earned 7,778 yes votes, about 55 percent of all votes cast. Passage of the measure, which authorizes the city to increase the bed tax from 6 percent to as high as 9 percent, would secure funding for the city�s parks master plan and a proposed 124-acre sports complex. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.