DMPS SB Meeting 06/03/2008: Elections

The Des Moines Public Schools school board took a vote at its June 3, 2008, meeting as a result of a legislative change for how school board elections are held. It is one of those issues that needs commentary with the reporting.

HF2620 makes changes in how school board directors are elected. The new law changes terms from three to four years and reduces elections to every other year instead of annually. Every school board in Iowa has to decide for itself how to make that transition. The Des Moines school board voted 5-2 to shorten the terms of Patty Link and Jon Narcisse to two years, with Narcisse and Teree Caldwell-Johnson, who objected to the timing of the vote, in the minority. This is the information that will be presented in the official minutes.

Before the board voted on how to transition terms, it had to move the item from discussion to an action item. This motion passed 4-3, with Narcisse, Caldwell-Johnson, and Jeanette Woods voting no. Their argument was on procedural matters and public participation. Board President Dick Murphy noted the possibility of action was discussed at the May 20th meeting and was mentioned in an article in the local daily newspaper.

I saw the board’s actions as those of a whining brat because it also voted 6-1, with Link in the minority, to sue the State of Iowa to suspend the changes in elections. This move came despite current acceptance of state authority to set election rules. But the board, as a whole, did not want the change and is willing to spend taxpayers’ money to fight it. There were remarks by board members that if the legislature really wanted to save school districts money, the legislature would have moved the election date to November instead of keeping it in September. While Murphy noted that the Iowa Association of School Boards opposed the change, he ignored the fact that IA-SB also argued for keeping elections in September because school district boundaries are just too different from other electoral districts to make combined elections practical. Moreover, nobody mentioned that IA-SB won the bigger prize of convincing the legislature and governor to approve a $0.01 statewide sales tax for school construction and property-tax reduction.

Board members also tried to argue that they did not have enough time to make a decision. However, if a change in terms did not occur now, the same situation would arise again and force an election in 2010, negating the savings intended by the law.

As for the selfish part of the equation, this requires a bit more background knowledge. Let’s start with what I considered the best solution for the commonweal. That would have been for the candidate finishing third in this year’s election to run again in 2009. As Narcisse alluded to during the board meeting, that would be no different than someone running in a special election only to have to run in a general election a year later. It takes a bit of extra money and time, but there is also the power of incumbency, just ask Des Moines City Councilmember Brian Meyer. Consider, however, that in the 2005 school board election, Board Vice President Ginny Strong came in third, behind Murphy and Woods. If Strong and/or Murphy choose to seek re-election this year, there is the real possibility that one of them could have ended up being that third-place finisher.

Murphy was one of the people claiming that it would be too confusing for voters to understand that one of the winning candidates had to run again in 2009. Considering that many more voters than usually show up for school board elections were able to decipher the consequences of the Project Destiny plan, and some were able to draw clear lines about support for a county courthouse and opposition to timing of the construction, I give voters a whole lot more credit for their ability to understand processes than Murphy does on this point. Murphy also objected to the approved course of action because it means that all seven board members could be voted out of office within a year of each other. That did not stop Murphy from voting in favor of that option, though. Nor did Murphy vote against pursing a lawsuit despite his statement that he would rather choose legal battles that could be won and would benefit students instead of benefitting individuals on the board.

At the May 20th meeting, Narcisse, who frequently causes turmoil for the board, said he was interested in serving only one term and he would prefer that term to be extended a year rather than shortened. At the June 3rd meeting, Link said she was willing to reduce her own term by a year then run again in 2009, despite supporters who wanted her to have a four-year term, so Narcisse would not be the only board member to have a term shortened. When Narcisse made a motion to have the 2008 third-place finisher have a shortened term, there was no second. There was then a motion for and vote on reducing Narcisse’s and Link’s terms. It was around this time that Board Member Connie Boesen snapped at Narcisse that he already said he was only going to serve one term. Link, Boesen, and Strong have all served on PTAs, including the citywide PTA. This gives them a common background that is quite noticeable during some board discussions and votes. Since Link had more votes than Narcisse in the 2007 election, it is not illogical to assume she would also be among the top two vote recipients in a 2009 election. Although, it should serve as a cautionary tale that Strong and Murphy took their board seats by defeating two incumbents, Jim Patch and Margaret Borgen.

M.R. Field covers the school board for AroundDesMoines.com.