Thoughts on the School Board Election

by Micki Nellis

In the first school board election since the final TEA report was issued, the school’s candidate did not win.

Speculations as to the reasons why Dempsey won are flying.

All anyone really knows is that more people voted for Wendell Dempsey than any other candidate.

As to the reasons, we have some opinions to add to the mix.

Since Dempsey was one of the group that first questioned school misspending, perhaps voters are now taking it seriously. School administration’s attempts to kill (or discredit) the messengers apparently didn’t work. I hope they think twice in the future before using such tactics.

For the first time in seven years since we have been tracking school elections, the winner of the Gerard voting district did not win the election.

We heard from several sources that school personnel were told to vote for Navarrete. But, it’s still private in the ballot box. Anyone can get a list of who voted, but no one can get a list of how anyone voted. (Thank goodness that our votes are still private, even though little else is.)

We have nothing whatsoever against Tolin Navarrete. We do object to the school’s strong-arm tactics to try to get him elected. We do think there should be one or more Hispanics on the school board, as well as representatives from parts of town other than the Southwest area.

We still remember in previous elections where school people used school (taxpayer) resources – time, personnel and equipment – to campaign for candidates. We remember when school personnel went door to door telling people to go vote for their candidates or else “those people” would get elected. We remember being called “Cave people”, a term first applied by the school’s public relations person. We remember being called “terrorists” and we remember getting death threats through the mail. All we ever asked – and still ask – is that decision makers look at the facts and the issues and properly use the public funds that are entrusted to them.

Now that this election is over, let’s look toward the next election.

There is no indication that true diversity on the school board can be achieved without going to Single Member Districts, where one person is elected from each neighborhood as the city does. Now and in the past, most of the school board members have been from the southwest sector of town, closely clustered around Gerard School. Single Member Districts would require one board member from each part of town. 

We support “Equal Votes for All Neighborhoods”, as it says on our old yellow school bus.