PORT TOWNSEND — Two members of the Port Townsend School Board will not stand for re-election when their current terms expire this year.
Bobby DuBois and Beth Young announced their decision during a board retreat Jan. 8, eliciting a reaction from Jefferson County resident Tom Thiersch, who has called on both to resign immediately.
“These now ‘lame duck’ board members should find their own replacements now, rather than simply waiting for the fall election,” Thiersch said in a letter sent to the school administration and the Peninsula Daily News, which he plans to read at the next School Board meeting, Feb. 14.
Three seats on the board will be open. Board member Ann Burkhart said she plans to seek another term.
Young said she had no intention of resigning before the end of her term.
“I was elected for four years and will serve for that time,” she said. “I will not be stepping down early.”
Young was elected to her first term in 2003. She is not running for a third term, “so someone else has a chance to participate.”
She said serving on the School Board was a time-consuming commitment that took time away from spending time with her family.
DuBois, who was elected in 2007 and who has served the past two years as board chairman, did not respond to a request for comment about Thiersch’s proposal or why he planned to step down.
Thierch, a local activist who attends most Port Townsend School Board and Jefferson County commissioner meetings, said his suggestion is so new board members can be trained for the job rather than being sworn in with no experience or preparation.
“The initiation into life as a public official can be jarring for those not well-prepared,” Thiersch wrote.
“In business, the idea of training your own replacement is called ‘succession planning.’ Its intent is to ensure continuity of operations and to allow successors to hit the ground running,” he continued.
“This principle should also be applied to nonpartisan public offices.”
Thiersch said the school district is a public corporation and should be run as such.
Superintendent Gene Laes said the idea was “one citizen’s proposal.”
Laes said he has worked with hundreds of board members during his career, and several have resigned for specific reasons, but none has stepped down to make way for a successor.
“Board members are elected to serve a full term, and most of them keep that commitment unless something happens,” he said.
If a board member resigns, the school system calls for applications, and the remaining board members choose a replacement who will serve the remainder of the unexpired term.
Thiersch said this succession proposal can apply only to nonpartisan offices.
“It is hard to get people to run for school board because they work long hours for no pay and they get nothing but criticism,” he said.
“County commissioners are paid well, so they can handle that criticism.”
Thiersch, who is often critical of the School Board, said this is not one of those times.
“I am not trying to be critical of the board,” Thiersch said. “I am only suggesting a better way for passing the baton.”
If Burkhart were re-elected, she would become the board’s longest serving member.
Also serving on the School Board are Holley Carlson and Jennifer James Wilson, who were elected in 2009.
The next Port Townsend School Board meeting will be a work session at 6 p.m. Feb. 14 in the Lincoln Building board room, 450 Fir St.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
