A community sometimes considered divided sent a unified message about Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District last Tuesday.

For a second straight sewer election, community residents voted to retain incumbent commissioners instead of electing candidates favored by the city’s mayor.

“I think it showed that the city and the people south of Sprague are a lot more united than people give us credit for,” said Paul Shields, who lives outside the city near Liberty Lake.

Although absentee ballots are still being counted, thus far Commissioner Tom Agnew received 74 percent of the votes to defeat challenger John Korondy.

Although a majority of the district’s ratepayers live inside the city, its three commissioners live a few miles outside city limits. Korondy picked up more votes at precincts within the city, but Agnew still carried all four precincts.

Agnew said the victory was less about endorsing him personally than it was about maintaining a sewer and water district that people know and trust.

“One hopes that the message was loud and clear,” Agnew said. “I personally think this is more about the state of affairs in the community than it is about Tom Agnew.”

Korondy said he was never linked to the city and didn’t believe voters had that perception.

“I don’t think people saw me as a lackey of the city or as pro assumption,” he said. “Again, I tried to make it clear that I wasn’t in any way associated with city government.”

In his campaign, Korondy talked about working out communication problems that began two years ago when the city tried to takeover the sewer district.

He pushed for providing ratepayers with regular financial updates and posting meetings minutes. But he also maintained the possibility that the city and sewer district could share resources to cut costs and wouldn’t rule out that the two entities could eventually become one.

Mayor Steve Peterson said he supported Korondy because having a new commissioner on the board could have helped heal the rift.

“The citizens spoke. The feeling is they put the same people into office and you have to work with them,” Peterson said.

Korondy said the campaign took a hurtful turn after a story in the Liberty Lake Splash misstated his educational credentials. From there, he was accused of lying about his past military and work history, including his 20-year career as a computer programmer that was verified by representatives at Hewlett Packard.

Agnew also took his lumps when it was divulged that he’d been fined twice for failing to meet deadlines for two annual conflict of interest filings, required by the Public Disclosure Commission.

The newly elected commissioner is eager to get back to crucial issues — including making decisions on new technology to meet anticipated government standards to clean up the Spokane River. There’s also the matter of securing water rights for new development and addressing milfoil challenges at Liberty Lake, he said.

Korondy said he plans to stay active in community politics by attending city council and sewer district meetings. But when it comes to running for office, he’ll likely pass.

“Shoot me if I ever think of it,” Korondy said, adding, “It was a mess.”