Well, my bid for an open seat on the Des Moines School Board came to an end last night at 7:22pm when four of the six sitting members chose Felipe Gallardo to fill the vacancy opened by Margaret Buckton's resignation.
The selection process started about a month ago when Buckton, elected in 2009, and her husband purchased a company that would be providing greater than $2,500 in services to the school district. This is the level of services which the district deems a board member to have a conflict of interest in providing if they are serving on the board. Buckton's formal November 1st resignation left an opening that could be filled by board appointment.
Apparently, the Board had been taking resumes for the prior month, but up until November 3rd no one really knew about it because the fact was not well publicized. On November 3rd the Des Moines Register ran a small story about how the district had only received one resume for the position and that the deadline for applications was November 12th.
I thought about it a bit and decided I was qualified. I have education experience, I've served on corporate and non-profit boards, I attended Des Moines Schools, I live in Des Moines and I have children in the district. By the time Friday rolled around the word had gotten out about the open position and there were 16 applicants, among them a former school board member, two former mayors, a former principal, a retired teacher, erstwhile board seekers and several others, me included. I thought I still had a chance though.
Buckton's vacancy left six on the board. I spoke with four of those. We discussed my qualifications and experiences which allowed them to vet me as a candidate. If I got nothing else out of the process at least I had to the opportunity to speak with these people who toil diligently and often discreetly on behalf of our city and district. It became clear though after talking with the Board that the likely candidate was the fourth runner-up from the September 8 2009 election. But, anything was possible.
So last night I attended my very first school board meeting to see the process unfold. After listening to contract discussions, monitoring reports, budget approvals and student achievement recognitions the board got down to the candidate selection. As indicated, the Board voted in Felipe Gallardo the fourth runner up in the last election. See results below:
Connie Boesen | 5627 | ( 19.09%) |
Margaret M. Buckton | 4526 | ( 15.36%) |
Teree Caldwell-Johnson | 4767 | ( 16.17%) |
Felipe Gallardo | 2722 | ( 9.24%) |
There was no precedent for deciding the appointment this way, but it made a lot of sense to me. The public had voted on Gallardo and he is of Latino origin allowing him to ostensibly represent Latino students who now comprise a 25% (and growing) segment of the student body. Here to fore this ethnic group has not had representation on the Board. I thought it was a good choice and I kind of decided after talking to the four members about the position that I may not have had the time required had I been chosen, or at the very least I would have had one frequently upset mother of three children ages 7,5, and 2 to deal with!
It was an interesting process though and it was great to meet and talk to Board president Connie Boesen and members Dick Murphy, Teree Caldwell-Johnson and Jeanette Woods. After the meeting had adjourned I had a chance to talk again with Woods, Murphy and Boesen. I congratulated them on their choice and the fairness of the decision. It was suggested that I might be able to serve on one of the many boards associated with the district and I offered that I would be happy to serve in that capacity. A door closes, a window opens.
After giving thanks all around we parted company. As I walked down the ornate granite stairway of our elegant city hall circa 1882 I felt a victory of sorts, even in defeat. The cool night air hit me as I stepped outside. Winter has become tired of holding back and is ready strike. I had to wait for traffic before I could cross the darkened street to the now nearly empty city lot where I had parked in a hurry and a rush of anticipation. My brush with school board service had become just that. Now Galardo is the one who has to figure out how to juggle his school board responsibilities, his full time job and his family obligations, not I. Me, I'm free!
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