Questioning the status quo
School Board, City Council incumbents under fire at forum
Thursday, October 11, 2007
School Board candidates
(All terms four years)
District 2: Lisa Brown (unopposed)
District 4: Char Rusk (incumbent), Robin Crossan
District 5: Jerry Kozatch (incumbent), Laura Anderson
City Council candidates
District 1 (four years): Susan Dellinger (incumbent, council president), Scott Myller
District 2 (four years): Meg Page Bentley, Paul Hughes
District 3 (two years): Vince Arroyo, Walter Magill
District 3 (four years): Karen Post (incumbent), Jon Quinn
At-large (two years): Towny Anderson (incumbent), Cari Hermacinski, Dave McClure
Not up for election: Loui Antonucci (District 2), Steve Ivancie (District 1)
Leaving council: Ken Brenner (District 2, term-limited), Paul Strong (District 3, term-limited)
Upcoming forums
Host: Steamboat Pilot & Today/Steamboat TV18
When: 5 p.m. Monday
Where: Centennial Hall
Host: Steamboat Springs Rotary Club
When: Noon to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 23
Where: Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel
Steamboat Springs — When no one else submitted a question for Steamboat Springs School Board candidates at a Wednesday forum, Jon Quinn stepped up to the plate.
Quinn attended the forum hosted by the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association - the first of two forums Wednesday - as a candidate for Steamboat Springs City Council, opposing incumbent Karen Post. But he also took an opportunity to question potential School Board members, noting that each of the candidates had mentioned fiscal responsibility as one of their goals. Quinn asked whether it was fiscally responsible to buy out the contract of Donna Howell, former superintendent of the Steamboat Springs School District.
The August buyout cost the school district $348,490, including taxes, fees and benefits Howell would have received regardless of when she left her position.
"I do not believe spending nearly $400,000 to fire a superintendent without cause was the best use of taxpayers' money," said Lisa Brown, who is running unopposed for a District 2 School Board seat.
Two other School Board candidates, who Brown has been jointly campaigning with, shared her view. Laura Anderson, who is running for a District 5 seat against incumbent Jerry Kozatch, said the decision is one of the reasons she is running for School Board. Mike Loomis, who spoke on behalf of District 4 candidate Robin Crossan, said Crossan also disagreed with the decision to fire Howell. Crossan is running against incumbent Char Rusk. All the candidates are seeking a four-year term.
The incumbents defended the School Board's decision to let Howell go. Rusk said the fiscally irresponsible move was not firing Howell, but giving her an unprecedented contract with a large buyout clause two years ago. Rusk was appointed to the School Board in June. Kozatch said Howell's firing was necessary for the health of the school district.
"In a toxic environment, everyone suffers," Kozatch said.
Critique, defense
Current City Council members also received an impromptu performance review at the Chamber forum.
The most scathing criticisms came from former City Manager Paul Hughes, who was fired by City Council in December 2005 after seven years on the job. Hughes is running against Meg Bentley for a four-year District 2 council seat.
"I believe I can help restore integrity, competence and credibility to a council that could use all three," Hughes said. "It's fair to say I know more about municipal operations in general, and Steamboat Springs operations in particular, than any other candidate or current member of council."
Bentley said she is "not a politician" and focused her comments on managing Steamboat's growth while preserving its character.
"I will support growth-management legislation," Bentley said. "If we're to survive with anything we value, we must adopt a long-term plan."
City Council incumbents defended their work. Towny Anderson - who hopes to retain his two-year, at-large seat against challengers Dave McClure and Cari Hermacinski - said many of the current City Council's accomplishments, such as affordable housing legislation passed earlier this year, won't become evident for some time.
"What we see today is the result of 20 years of inaction," Anderson said. "Everyone was concerned about affordable housing; we were the first council to do something about it."
Other than criticizing council's recent purchase of the Iron Horse Inn, McClure chose not to disparage the current council and focused mostly on his policy goals, which include establishing a vocational education curriculum in Steamboat, implementing a living wage for hourly workers and starting a city-sponsored health care program.
"We can't limit folks who want to move here, who want to live here, who want to raise their children here," the retired University of Tennessee librarian said.
Hermacinski, a member of the Steamboat Springs Planning Commission, said she is running solely because she is so dissatisfied with the current City Council. Among her criticisms, Hermacinski said City Council needs to focus on the needs of the majority rather than special interests and decrease the number of times it meets in executive, or secret, session.
"The idea that all should benefit from government action has been lost to some extent," Hermacinski said. "I'm standing here because I'm unhappy with the current direction."
Comments
jeannie berger 5 years, 8 months ago
dimwit, here you go again. ps is not who you just named in your post and for you to name that person just shows your ignorance. In my opinion ps just rattles off absurdities in order to get you pro dr. d folks all upset and it works every time. I hope your message is removed (I suggested it). If you ignored ps and didn't rise to the bait each time he/she posted , then ps wouldn't have any more fun with you and would probably stop posting.
id04sp 5 years, 8 months ago
Stop being so artsy-fartsy allegorical and show us the numbers which indicate there's a problem.
No evidence (numbers)? No problem.
How about just concentrating on the educational issues which are either revealed or shown not to be a problem by test scores, grades, college admissions, etc., and shut up otherwise. We don't care about a bunch of old ladies who can't get along with each other. Jesus, take that crap to church where it belongs and LEAVE IT THERE!
JQPUBLIC 5 years, 8 months ago
"starting a city-sponsored health care program."... ante up again folks... Same game, new dealer!
untamedShrewd 5 years, 8 months ago
I want a school board that can come up with the best possible means to reach the district's goals. I could careless if you all can skip around in a field of pansies together. I'm not looking for a BOE of friendships. Sometimes it takes butting heads when suggesting ideas to decided upon the best possible solution. And done so in a professional manner: Friends or not. Stop the nonsense, and start acting like professionals. If you don't like the person next to you...don't worry, you're not going home with him or her. But you do need to conduct yourselves professionally while you're representing the district. My votes are for at least three new seats.
Sunspot 5 years, 8 months ago
PS or whoever you are today
Char pretty much summed it up, "the fiscally irresponsible move was not firing Howell, but giving her an unprecedented contract with a large buyout clause two years ago".
It was the old board that created this whole mess. The current board has done a great job of dealing with the nonsense that they have had to put up with.
Also, are you sure Lisa Brown, Laura Anderson, and Robin Crossan want to be endorsed by a nut like you?
untamedShrewd 5 years, 8 months ago
hey sunspot, come out of the clouds. The old BOE didn't buy Howell out. And Howell had every intention of completing her tenure as super intendent, thus spreading out the salary and benefits over time.
The new BOE fired her because "it wasn't a good fit". They used the analogy of a marriage gone bad. Marriage? What about being professionals. The current BOE has displayed that they are irresponsible as individuals and as a group: Individually as with Dr. D's emails, and Char's lack of being a responsible BOE member by declining to vote either way on Howell (seems like a political move on her part). And as a group, by their unjust and untimely ousting of Dr. Howell at the cost of the district.
Good Luck to Smyser. Be sure to never waking up on the wrong side of the bed...you might be deemed not a team player.
beagle 5 years, 8 months ago
untamedShrew - I think 'not a good fit' was a polite way for the board to put it - they're not allowed to discuss much in public when it concerns personnel. A more brutally honest way might have been, "she worked against us at every opportunity, lied to us, and refused to do what we asked." Would you have preferred that? Read the the last couple of superintendent evaluations and the investigation transcripts, they're public record.
jeannie berger 5 years, 8 months ago
beagle, arf, arf
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