With a tally of more than two to one, the voters of Chino Valley shouted a resounding "Yes!" to the question of bringing a KOA Campground to town. Tuesday night's final number on the Yavapai County election website was 1814 "Yes" votes (69.34%) to 802 "No" votes (30.66%).

"We are ecstatic about the results of the Chino Valley election," said Charlie Arnold, owner of Southwest Development Consulting and the project manager for the Chino Valley Prescott North KOA.

Arnold has been confident of this outcome for quite a while. Last December, when Judge Robert Brutinel ruled that the matter would have to be placed on the ballot, Arnold predicted a victory, stating at that time, "...we look forward to the election in May when the silent majority can finally speak.”

Tuesday night's victory showed just how overwhelming the support from that 'silent majority' was. Arnold explained, "We feel that this sends a very strong message, not only to the town of Chino Valley, but to the everyone in the region."

Arnold continued, "Chino Valley wants to see projects like this happen. It represents a good balance between responsible growth and the rural lifestyle of Chino. It's an appropriate land use of the commercial corridor of Chino Valley."

Arnold paused for a second, and then said, "Most of all, we want to thank those who voted in favor of and supported this project. We'll be having a groundbreaking ceremony here within a couple of weeks, and we plan to invite the entire town of Chino Valley to attend. After all, this is not our project. This project is for the town of Chino Valley."

Chino Valley Council Election Results

In other election results, Mayor Jim Bunker lost his seat to challenger Chris Marley. During the March 8 Primary, Marley bested Bunker by just 14 votes. But, since Marley didn't make at least 51% in that election, a runoff was required. But tonight's results left no question, with Marley receiving 1573 votes (56.50%) to Bunker's 1198 votes (43.03%).

Lon Turner won his council seat outright in the March Primary, but a runoff was required to determine the winner of the two other vacant council positions. Here are Tuesday's winners:

• Mike Best - 1432 (29.82%)
• Darryl Croft - 1354 (28.20%)

Here are the runner up results:

• Charlotte Marriott 1092 (22.74%)
• James Conn 902 (18.78%)

All results are unofficlal at this point until they are officially canvassed by Yavapai County Recorder Ana Wayman-Trujillo.