Monday, March 10, 2008

Tick, Tick, Tick

The time to qualify to run for MNPS Board of Education is ticking away. Citizens interested in running have got to pick up a qualifying petition, get 25 registered voters from that district to sign it, and have those signatures back to the Election Commission and verified before noon on Thursday, April 3.

As of last Friday:

Ed Kindall is unopposed.
George Thompson is unopposed.
Gracie Porter is unopposed.
Mark North is unopposed.

But there is good news for District 9 (Bellevue). Two people have picked up petitions to run against MNPS BOE Chair Marsha Warden:James Lech and Lee E. Limbird. I've never heard of either of them. If only to give voters a chance at a choice...find 'em and sign a petition.

If these seats remain unchanged MNPS will not change and it must change. I dearly hope someone rises up and at least provides voters a choice in each of the above districts. Both Kindall and Thompson demonstrate the power of incumbency and give insight into the reason voters required term limits for Metro Council members.

Those interested in running, or those working on encouraging someone to run should check here for more details:

Davidson County Election Commission
(615-862-8800)
Metro Office Building
800 Second Avenue South
UPDATE: Here's the TN School Board's Association's page on becoming a school board member. Qualifications for running are:
  • A citizen of Tennessee
  • At least 18 years old
  • A resident of the school district
  • A high school graduate (or G.E.D.)
  • A registered voter in the county
Here are the current BOE members up for re-election in August.










From left to right:
Ed Kindall on the BOE since 7/9/1985, nearly 23 years,
George Thompson on the BOE in 1991 and then back on 8/1/1996, more than 12 years,
MNPS BOE Chair Marsha Warden on the BOE since 8/24/2004 , nearing 8 years,
Gracie Porter elected in August of 2006 and
Mark North since spring of 2007.

3 comments:

Buckley said...

So, all five of the incumbents have picked up petitions?

Buckley said...

I've met James Lech- about a year ago and he spoke of runing then. I met him at a chess tournament (he's a chess coach). I also see this so he has some background in education, though he's not a school teacher. There's also a James Lech that is (or was) a city planner on the outskirts of Nashville, and on the Plan of Nashville Citizen's Panel, but I don't know if that's the same one.

My brief conversation with him made me think he's innovative and isn't one to tip toe around important issues. I was impressed. Don't know much else. Anyway, good that there's a race.

Buckley said...

Plan of Nashville link