(Published Wednesday, April 25, 2007 11:09:31 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Frank Schultz Gazette staff
The Janesville School Board elected Debra Kolste as its new president Tuesday during one of the strangest school board meetings in 10 years.
The board ceased deliberations soon after it started when board member Tim Cullen objected to a secret ballot in the election of board president for the coming year.
Lori Stottler had nominated Kolste. Todd Bailey nominated Dennis Vechinsky, who has been president for the past year.
Superintendent Tom Evert was handing out paper ballots when Bill Sodemann said he couldn't recall secret ballots in the past. Assistant board clerk Nancy Hewes said the board has used secret ballots, but only for contested elections.
Then Cullen, a new board member, objected.
None of the board's votes on other matters are in secret, and secret ballots are not a common practice in state or local bodies, Cullen said.
Cullen said he didn't want his first school board vote to be in secret.
Board members seemed unsure how to proceed, so Evert suggested getting a legal opinion. Evert and Hewes left the room at Jefferson Elementary School for that purpose.
The board heard a report from Jefferson School staff while they waited.
Evert and Hewes returned about an hour later with copies of a state statute, which states that secret ballots are permitted, although not required, for the election of officers.
Evert said the district's legal counsel, Dave Moore, recommended that if the board wanted a secret ballot, it should pass a motion to require it. No board member made that motion, so the vote was in the open.
Cullen, Bailey and the other new board member, Amy Rashkin, voted for Vechinsky. The remaining five raised their hands for Kolste. Vechinsky was absent.
No one discussed the merits of the candidates.
Hewes said she could not recall any contested votes for president since she became assistant clerk in 2000, but notes from her predecessor indicated a secret vote was the procedure used by past boards.
School board presidents often have served for two years in the past.
Stottler said after the meeting that she knew Vechinsky wanted to be president again, but Kolste had expressed interest, too.
"There was nothing personal to that," Stottler said of her support for Kolste. "Dennis is an amazing person. He is incredibly caring."
But Stottler believed Kolste could do a better job of working with the board's new mix, which includes two new, energetic members-Rashkin and Cullen.
"When Deb expressed an interest, I really felt like that chemistry-especially if we're going into a $2 million (budget) cut again-you have 30 people who want to talk at the podium, you have to be able to cut them off at three minutes. Or if you have somebody who's really upset about the way something's going at a board meeting, but they have a legitimate view, you have to be able to voice that. And in passing I told Dennis those were my concerns."
Rashkin said she supported Vechinsky because he seemed to do a good job of guiding the board and community through the recent emotional meetings on budget cuts and because of the need for continuity, with new cuts looming.
However, "I think they're both fabulous candidates," Rashkin said.
Bailey said Vechinsky did not attend because he was on an annual family trip.
The board also unanimously voted Stottler as vice president, DuWayne Severson as treasurer and Sodemann as clerk.
Stottler said she was going to nominate Vechinsky for vice president, but Kolste nominated her first.
