Coastal voters also boosted Olema contractor Dennis Rodoni onto the board of North Marin Water District, giving West Marin its first representation in the Novato-based district since 1983.

"I'm basically just elated that West Marin gave me such strong support and that Novato voters gave their support to a relative unknown," said Rodoni, 43.

"As a priority, I'm looking forward to working with the state's mandated order on Lagunitas Creek," he said.

Rodoni also wants to get Paradise Ranch Estates back "totally online" for water service after the Inverness Ridge fire. "I'm anxious to meet with fire people to see what kind of improvements are needed," he said.

In the four-way race for three seats, Rodoni finished second districtwide to incumbent Jack Baker, who earned 8,395 votes to Rodoni's 7,802. Retired PG&E engineer Don Brand (7,422 votes) earned a seat by finishing third, while former San Rafael cop Gary Frugoli (6,849 votes) was denied a seat.

In West Marin, Rodoni outdistanced the three East Marin candidates by more than two-to-one, suggesting that many local voters either didn't pick a full slate or voted for Rodoni only.

Measure A was a referendum on the rezoning of 180 acres north of Novato for the research center, which has long been opposed by animal-rights activists, many environmentalists, and critics opposed to the $40 million to $100 million price tag.

"All right!" exclaimed Lagunitas' Craig Perrin, a leader of the No on A campaign, when told of the lopsided West Marin tally.

Perrin speculated that coastal residents, perhaps more than other Marin residents, feared that the rezoning of agricultural land for the center could set a bad precedent. If voters had let the rezoning stand, he said, "in 20 years, what protections would you have" for open space?

What makes the center a tougher sell here, he said, is a general dislike for large building projects, as well as the lack of retirement and nursing homes - places where the suffering from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other diseases of the elderly would be more evident.

The future of the Buck Center, one of the three "major projects ... to benefit mankind" called for in a 1986 court ruling on the Buck Trust, remains a tangle.

Novato voters Tuesday passed their own Buck measure allowing that city to annex the site and on its own permit the construction. However, any action on the project could wind up in court or again on the ballot.

"The ball's in the Buck Center's court," said Perrin, who suggested that center advocates submit plans a smaller, "debt-free, non-toxic Buck Center."

"The new board needs to make sure parents are involved in setting priorities for the district," Sloan said.

As the district expands its campuses, starting with the construction of 2.5 classrooms this year, "my first question is going to be, 'Have we cleared it with the parent groups?'" Sloan said.

However, in the district's central area, Tomales' Tim Furlong upended 16-year incumbent Al Poncia fairly easily, 714 votes to 539 votes. Rancher Poncia edged contractor Furlong in Inverness, but lost everywhere else, including the Sonoma County part of the district.

Inverness voters, recently under threat from fire, passed the tax by a 10-to-one majority.