The last public opportunity to question the 17 candidates for four seats on the Austin Board of Education has come and gone.

Thursday, October 28, 1999

The last public opportunity to question the 17 candidates for four seats on the Austin Board of Education has come and gone.

Now, it’s up to yard signs, newspaper and radio ads and door-to-door canvassing to get the candidates’ message across to voters.

It all ends Tuesday, when voters in Austin Independent School District No. 492 go to the polls.

A group of local citizens with cooperation from the Minnesota League of Women Voters’ Austin chapter held the last candidates forum Wednesday night at Ellis Middle School.

Burt Plehal and Knowles Dougherty put together the forum and selected 14 questions most-asked by citizens and relating to the on-going issues in the Austin school district.

The candidates were interviewed in two groups. When the forum concluded, a question and answer period was allowed. Sixty people attended.

Speaking their pieces

The first group of candidates questioned included Bob Vilt, David D. Solomonson, Sally A. Vogel, Jean E. Spenske, Bev Nordby, Marian J. Clennon, Brian W. McAlister and Susan Fell-Johnson.

The candidates were asked what is the role of the school board and its relationship with the school superintendent.

Solomonson, a retired high school teacher, said it was to "communicate with classroom teachers" and Vogel said it was to "watch out for the interests of the students."

The answers were typical of other responses given.

The second round of questioning allowed the candidates to choose one of the 14 prepared questions.

Several chose questions directed at the role of a school board member. Vilt, a former teacher, said school board members should encourage free expression and observed, "I don’t feel that goes on currently."

Another popular question for the candidates was about "social promotion."

Vogel, a classroom teacher in the Hayfield school district, said passing a student on to the next grade, who has demonstrated he/she cannot do the academic work required creates an "overwhelming burden."

Nordby, the district manager for the Mower County Soil and Water Conservation District, answered a question about the fiscal irresponsibilities uncovered in the district a year ago.

Her response was a warning to voters – "Don’t take your frustrations out on the levy referendum"- and an admission -  "Like the rest of you, I am growing weary of the current school board hiding behind an employee who is no longer with the school district when explaining the shortfall."

John Ulland, a long-time school board incumbent, joined the forum some 20 minutes into the event and promptly collected the most attention when he answered a question what the candidates had learned in six weeks of campaigning.

"In the last six weeks I’ve been very, very busy with my pumpkin patch and I’ve learned zero, because I’ve been so busy," he said to chuckles from the audience.

The most clear division between the challengers and the incumbents in the first group of candidates was their explanation of the budget deficit. According to the incumbents who responded, it was due to the board’s reliance upon misinformation supplied by the former superintendent from a former business office employee who was later terminated.

Nordby, among other challengers, expressed incredulity at the incumbent board members lack of knowledge the district faced a financial crisis.

"Speaking of the infrequent meetings of the board’s finance committee, Nordby said, "I just can’t imagine anyone approving expenditures without knowing what the budget is," she said.

The second group of candidates included Kathy Green, Bruce A. Loveland, Susan Maus, Lewis J. Aase, Carolyn S. Bogott, Arnold Lang, Sherri McCarty and Larry W. Andersen.

Again the responses were separated in two general categories: the incumbents responded one way and the challengers another.

If Ulland’s admission that his pumpkin patch had prevented him from "learning anything new," as facilitator Conradt called it, McCarty’s action once again provoked its own audience reaction.

McCarty, a challenger, interrupted a response to a question to announce she was endorsing Lang, sitting next to her, for a seat on the Austin school board. McCarty and Lang are sister- and brother-in-law. She made the same announcement two weeks ago during a KSMQ-TV forum.

The most animated responses came from Anderson, a former Austin High School teacher.

"I don’t know how you can set policies and not set foot in the classroom to see the impact and effect of your policies," he criticized the incumbents. "I think it’s unconscionable for the school board members never to set foot in the school buildings."

Bogott, second only to Ulland in seniority (more than 13 years) on the school board, said she was running again, because, "My passion for education is still strong."

The other incumbent on the second panel of candidates, Aase, said he believes all of the candidates "have the interest of students at heart" and "can still not agree on every issue."

Before the question and answer period began, challenger Green had the last comments. She said six weeks of campaigning had shown her "how much people do care."

"They want a change and I think a new school board will bring the community what it wants and that’s a focus on the classroom," she said.

Levy forum tonight

The last public forum gets underway at 7 p.m. tonight at Austin City Hall for the levy override referendum.

John O’Rourke, former long-time Austin mayor, and Gordy Harder, a retired Austin teacher, are co-chairs of the committee promoting passage of the levy referendum

They will be joined by Austin Independent School District No. 492 officials and stasff in explaining the need for the voters’ support.