EDITOR’S NOTE: This corrects that the reception on Dec. 7 will be only for outgoing board members, not also for those newly elected to the board.
PORT ANGELES — The winner of a Port Angeles School Board seat has resigned from the position, and the defeated incumbent said he might apply to be appointed to the post.
Rick Marti, 70, a substitute teacher, was selected by voters over incumbent Lonnie Linn, 60, by a margin of 3,608 votes, or 54.23 percent, to Linn’s 3,045 votes, or 45.77 percent.
Marti would have been sworn in Dec. 10.
Marti said Wednesday he decided to resign after getting more information about the job requirements.
“I felt I would be overwhelmed by the job,” Marti said.
He had a message for voters who selected him on their ballots.
“I really appreciate their support and I’m sorry to let them down,” he said.
Marti’s resignation letter was dated Nov. 16 and was delivered to county Auditor Shoona Riggs after the general election was certified Tuesday, said Tina Smith-O’Hara, spokeswoman for the school district.
Linn learned of Marti’s resignation Wednesday, and said he would be open to applying for the appointment back to his seat.
“I want to finish some of the work I haven’t got done,” Linn said.
A timeline for taking applications and the setting of a procedure to replace Marti will be considered when the School Board meets at 7 p.m. Dec. 10 at the Central Services office, 216 E. Fourth St.
A reception is scheduled prior to the meeting from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. for outgoing board members Patti Happe and Steve Baxter, who declined to run for reelection, and Linn. Newly elected directors, Dr. Joshua Jones and Susan Shotthafer will be sworn in at the meeting.
Linn said Wednesday he was uncertain as to what his status will be at and after the Dec. 10 board meeting.
Marti’s resignation might leave Linn as a board member until his term officially expires at midnight Jan. 1, he said.
“I don’t know what the procedure is for this,” Linn said.
“I’ve seen candidates resign after they take the oath of office, but not before,” Linn said.
He said he was also uncertain if the appointment of a new member would last until the next general election cycle or for the entire four-year term.
Linn is currently the School Board president. He has served on the board for eight years and worked closely with the Washington State School Directors’ Association, where he helped to train new board members on state policies and legal matters relating to board procedures.
Along with other board members, he also spent time in Olympia lobbying state legislators on state education policy and funding.
“I was trying to show them what education should be versus what they think it is,” he said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
