Prognostications are dangerous, especially when they rest upon thin evidence. But the vote for chair on Monday night at the Spotsylvania County School Board meeting suggests that swing votes are back.
by Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The Spotsylvania School Board reorganization meeting got off to a halting start on Monday night. Before the election of a new Board chair and the transfer of power, the Board got into a lengthy discussion when Nicole Cole proposed a list of new items to add to the agenda.
In addition to adding an item related to selecting a new School Board attorney, Cole also added an item to terminate the security firm that was hired by Mark Taylor. Among other items added were ones related to books, and to the instructional materials policy.
These additions to the agenda kick-off what looks to be a period of considerable changes in the months ahead.
But any idea that the Board would revert to predictable blocks of power, as had happened under the previous Board, was quickly laid to rest.
United, but Not in Lock-step
Prior to the meeting, there had been intense lobbying by Lorita Daniels and Cole to become Board chair. The potential was there for Daniels, Cole, Carol Medawar, Belen Rodas, and Megan Jackson to come to terms as a block and ensure the five voted unanimously as a show of political strength on a Board chair.
Instead, Jackson split the vote among the five. Lorita Daniels, who was elected chair, had support from Tea Party member Phelps and the newly elected independent Jackson. Cole, by contrast, had support from Medawar, who had the support of the Spotsylvania Democratic Committee in the election, and Rodas, who like Jackson was a dedicated independent.
This put the deciding vote in the hands of April Gillespie.
Gillespie took some time before casting her vote, her very pregnant pause drawing whispers from the audience as people waited to see which way she would lean. After more than a minute of silence, she threw her support behind Daniels.
Following two years in which Phelps, Gillespie, Kirk Twigg and Rabhi Abuismail voted in lock-step, the potential that this Board will be forced to work together to form alliances that revolve around issues as opposed to an ideology is a welcome one.
In the days and weeks ahead, the Board is going to be making decisions on some significant procedural and educational issues. Given that Daniels, Cole, Medawar, Jackson, and Rodas all ran against the chaos that defined the School Board over the past two years, expect Daniels to enjoy their full support as the Board potentially rolls back the more controversial decisions the previous Board advanced (see the partial list of new agenda items above).
She’ll need this block of support, as it’s unlikely that Phelps and Gillespie will go along with rolling back the policies they fought to advance during their two-year period in power.
So at least for now, the Board is likely to realize a number of 5-2 decisions, with Phelps and Gillespie opposing the rash of new (or restored) policies. The real test for this Board is likely to come as budget season heats up this spring.
By that time, this Board’s efforts to undo many of the policies the previous Board installed will begin to fade, and Jackson – as she did Monday night – could well emerge as the critical swing vote.
In an interview she gave with the Advance in March, Jackson stressed her independence. “I’m about finding common ground and meeting in the middle,”
A lot of politicians give lip service to this, of course, but Jackson has consistently shown herself to be a practitioner of finding the middle path. In fact, I summarized my time with her this way:
Politically, [Jackson] seems to be like the majority of the American populace – a little right of center on some issues, a little left of center on others…. In many ways, Jackson represents a growing body of politicians tired of the types of antics we’ve observed here in Spotsylvania, and across the country. Arguing. Insults. And a quest for power that exists solely to silence opposition. Instead, she wants to return to debate, to transparency, and to a solutions-based approach to government.
Following two years in which Phelps, Gillespie, Kirk Twigg and Rabhi Abuismail voted in lock-step, the potential that this Board will be forced to work together to form alliances that revolve around issues as opposed to an ideology is a welcome one.
Should this prove to be the case, Phelps and Gillespie, whom some have speculated would become mere bystanders on the new Board, could find that they have substantial power on issues that Jackson and they find agreement on.
The question may well become, do Phelps and Gillespie recognize the opportunity before them to work with the larger Board to gain some victories that benefit the District as a whole?
Last night, as the Board began rolling back many of the policies the previous Board had put into place, both Phelps and Gillespie inexplicably left the dais and didn’t return.
Let’s hope this was a momentary lapse in judgment, and not a sign of how things will work moving forward.
In previous columns, I chastised the previous Board for effectively disenfranchising the voters who had put Cole, Daniels, and Dawn Shelley in office by refusing to let their representatives add items to the agenda and shutting down their ability to dissent.
By leaving the dais and refusing to vote, Phelps and Gillespie took their supporters voices away.
We’ve watched for two years what happens when a significant portion of the electorate loses the voices of their representatives. It’s bad for democracy, and it’s bad for the educational system this Board is entrusted to oversee.
The opportunity for coalition-building and debate is before this Board. Let’s hope all seven members see it, and grab it.
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Well done analysis. I hope they all work to find common ground.
Totally agree with this one.
Only thing I can think of that was left out was this: It’s a bad lesson for the children that you are hoping to teach not only lessons in grammar and math, but life as well.
If you truly believe in the American form of government, when you are in the majority – you should be allowing the minority’s voice to be heard. This board has done that, it appears.
If you are the minority, you have a duty to your constituents to have your and their voice heard by being willing to work in good faith to mutual consensus when able, and to express your reservations clearly and in challengeable debate when you cannot find that consensus.
Not pick up your marbles and go home whenever you cannot be in charge.
Hope you’re right and it was just a momentary lack of judgement and not an abdication of duty. That’s not a good lesson for anyone, especially those charged with the instruction of children.
Shame.