Commentary

A Post School Board Election Note

by Helen D. Gunderson, Gazette editor
September 11, 2002

We congratulate Chris Benda and Jim McKean on being elected to the school board. We thank them and the other candidates (Shele Blum, Rich Herrington, and Mary Zimmerman) for their willingness to serve the community and respond in recent weeks to the Gazette questionnaire and be part of the candidates forum sponsored by the Gilbert PTO. All of the candidates possessed qualities that would have been assets to the board and the school district.

Some citizens may be concerned about director-elect Chris Benda taking a seat on the school board while he is still serving on the Gilbert City Council (his council term ends on December 31, 2003) and while he is still on the board of Vision 2000. Vision 2000 was formed in the 1990's to develop land (given to the schools and town by the Upstill family) into a park and recreational center. It was the intent of the organization's founders that Vision 2000 serve at "an arm's length" from both the school and city.

We have seen Chris in action at both city council and Vision 2000 meetings. We believe his greatest assets to be that of:

1. fairness to fellow human beings,

2. his commitment to making Gilbert a good place to live,

3. down-to-earth pragmatism,

4. a willingness to call a spade a spade,

5. a lack of pretence or privilege as an elected officer,

6. and an exquisite sense of quiet, wry humor.

However, we are apprehensive of Chris serving concurrently on all three boards, partially because each governing body — in and of itself  — can demand a lot of time and responsibility and partially because Chris, as he himself acknowledges, does not like meetings. However, our main concern has to do with potential conflicts of interest or what are known as "compatibility" issues. 

We have made inquiries to the Iowa League of Cities, Iowa Association of School Boards, and the Iowa Attorney General's Office. Apparently, there is nothing in the law that prevents Chris from serving on all three bodies, and we have posted a 1981 letter of opinion from the Attorney General's Office that specifically addresses the issues of concurrently serving on a school board and city council.

We may chose to make further comment on this matter, but first we need a few days to reflect on the issues and discern what areas of discussion and voting a dual board and council member should abstain from. 

The Bookmobile issue that arose this summer raises questions about "compatibility." For those who aren't aware of the complexities of the situation, every town in Iowa is required to provide library services to its citizens. Gilbert does not have its own library so contracts with the Ames Public Library to bring its Bookmobile to town once a week. The amount Gilbert pays for the Bookmobile services for the current year is $34,770. Until last spring, the school district volunteered to provide a parking pad as well as utility and computer hookups in return for having the Bookmobile next to the elementary school where the Bookmobile became a strong complement to the elementary media center. 

A controversy arose in the spring when school administrators became aware that a young student had checked out "R" rated videos from the Bookmobile. The schools (who do not hold the contract with the library nor in reality pay much for the Bookmobile services) asked the library staff to hide restricted videos during school hours or find another place to park. Eventually, the library met with the city council. (See summaries of July 1 and August 19 council meetings.) 

Essentially the incompatibility between the school district and library has to do with differences in their missions. The school serves as "in loco parentis," meaning it serves in the role of parent to students while they are in school. The library serves to provide as wide of range of materials as possible to as wide of range of people as possible. Arrangements are gradually being worked out, but there has yet to be 100 percent resolution of the situation. Some Gilbert citizens may feel the city should do more to make the Bookmobile comfortably accessible to all of its citizenry rather than having the contracted library service seen as primarily benefiting the elementary school.

A second area that raises questions about compatibility is that of the city providing water to the schools and potential increases the city makes in water rates or policies so the schools pay their fair share. A third area would be the process of building the new middle school and the city providing infrastructure (streets, sewer, water) to it. A fourth area is the cooperation between the schools, city, and Vision 2000 in deciding whether to conclude Vision 2000 and its efforts short of  meeting the organization's goals or to push ahead. The list could go on and include things we have never considered.

It would be unfortunate if a board or council member had to abstain from commenting or voting on many issues. Voters elect a candidate to serve fully, and too much abstinence from either dialog or voting — the essential business of a governing body — would render the board or council member ineffective.

Perhaps having Chris serve on all three bodies will not be as big of problem as we first envisioned; however, advance public discussion to develop a common understanding between all board members, council members, and citizens could be helpful. Such an understanding could consist of guidelines and a statement at the next board and council meetings and would:

1. prove to concerned people that the two bodies are aware of the issues,

2. give board and council members, as well as citizens a sense of what to expect,

3. engender public trust.

We also realize there are advantages in having a citizen serve concurrently on two boards. Such a person can help the left hand know what the right hand is doing and vice-versa. Such a person — having a perspective of the big picture — can be extremely important since the Gilbert schools and town are quite different.

The school district spans 48 square miles with constituents from Ames, Squaw Valley, Gilbert, and other rural areas. The town is about one square mile, and all of its citizens live here. The school district has 3256 registered voters, and the town has 656. In terms of total population, the school district has 4412 residents while the town has 987. Interestingly, the school district's enrollment of around 960 students is about as large as the town's total population. The school superintendent, Doug Williams, has estimated that a total of 150 new homes will be constructed in the district this year. Gilbert may see 20 new homes during the year.*

The schools and the town also vary greatly in the size of staff and amount of finances that each has. There is also a big difference in the amount of enthusiastic citizen investment given to the schools and town. For instance, the schools recently had a huge amount of volunteer effort and donated material go toward building a new concession stand at the football field. Admittedly, there have been similar endeavors by Vision 2000 and its friends to develop Upstill Park, yet that was on behalf of both the school district and town, and there hasn't been much recent evidence of citizens investing solely in a city project. 

Also, the two governing bodies have different missions — one exists to educate young people and operates "in loco parentis" while the other is a community where a whole spectrum of people, from young to old reside or conduct business, for a variety of reasons, and some of those reasons have nothing to do with the schools no matter how good they are. And the city wouldn't dare try to operate "in loco parentis" — at least it better not — for its citizens.

In many ways, the schools are thriving and strong while the town is fragile. We need council members who are focused on the health of the town — who will protect and help it grow —  with the same fervor that a mother bear would have in overseeing her cubs. That is certainly a huge challenge. 

Chris has had 2 1/2 years to learn the council ropes. Sometimes he has asserted himself, more often he has held back on things that need to be brought before the council, perhaps waiting for the leadership of someone else to put the matter on the table. We would hate to see his efforts on the council dissipate because of his additional responsibilities of being on the school board. In fact, we would like to see him move into a stronger role, especially in regard to some issues that have gone on too long, that need attention, and that neither the council members nor mayor are addressing publicly.

We realize Chris received far more votes than the second candidate. In fact, he was the only one receive a majority of the vote with 146 of the 264 who cast ballots checking his name. (However, it should be noted that only four percent of the 3256 registered voters in the district supported him.) In any case, we acknowledge that Chris is a popular public figure. Perhaps some of that is because of his name recognition throughout the area because he is a former Gilbert football coach. But for sure, one of the reasons he received so many votes is probably because other people perceive some of the qualities in him that we have listed above. 

We are glad that Chris is a fair person with extraordinarily good common sense. It will take those qualities to sit on the school board, city council, and Vision 2000 and responsibly serve each constituency and maintain public trust.

The important thing as time goes on is not only what is technically legal and what Chris thinks is fair but also how his participation is perceived by the public at large. Good luck, Chris. Thanks for your dedication to civic involvement. 
   

Note: This column was last revised on September 13, 2002.