The results are in, the people have spoken.

Wednesday, November 03, 1999

The results are in, the people have spoken. The school levy override referendum has passed overwhelmingly, and four new faces will appear on the school board in January.

These four individuals, Bev Nordby, Larry Andersen, Bruce Loveland and Kathy Green have good ideas – they must or they would not have been elected – and they are soon going to be put to the test. There is a lot of work involved in being a member of the board. It is a lot of responsibility. They will be accountable to an entire school district, and can expect to get dinnertime phone calls from people who have concerns or just flat don’t agree with things they have done.

Now is the time for them to start getting ready, to attend all the school board meetings from now until January, to start looking at the books and talking to the teachers union.

It would not be amiss of them either to sit down with the people they have been elected to replace, to talk about the things that only people who have been on the board as long as John Ulland, Carolyn Bogott, Lewis Aase and Brian McAlister can know. Those four incumbents did their very best to serve the people of District No. 492 in the past years – almost 23 years for Ulland. Not only do they deserve respect for the things they have accomplished, they deserve thanks.

So welcome aboard to the newly elected. Get familiar with the processes of being an elected official. It’s not a particularly smooth path.

Thank you for the service you gave, to the four departing members of the board. Your efforts on behalf of the students of District No. 492 were remarkable, and your input will always be welcomed.