EACC gets its way in board primary

Most top finishers had teachers union backing

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006

In a statement released last week by the group’s legislative liaison Meg MacDonald, the EACC trumpeted the fact that six of the top vote recipients — Charles Carrington, Maura Cook, James Gesl, Pam Pedersen, Ron Stover, Donald Wade and Roberta ‘‘Bobbie” Wise — got the group’s endorsement.

‘‘These election results are a clear signal to the incumbents on the Board of Education that the citizens of this county don’t feel the Board of Education should impose their own fundamentalist beliefs on the public schools,” MacDonald wrote. ‘‘The EACC is very excited about the results, since relative new-comers handily trounced long-term veterans of the [board]. ... We will now redouble our efforts to make sure those seven candidates are elected in November.”

The only EACC endorsement recipient who did not finish in the top seven of last week’s contest was Ronald ‘‘Rip” Stover. As of Monday’s unofficial vote count, Stover trailed board incumbent Jennifer Abell by 955 votes.

MacDonald scorned Abell’s showing.

‘‘Apparently, Ms. Abell has been able to distance herself somewhat from the stigma associated with [the incumbent] board, notwithstanding the hard evidence that she voted in that same 4-3 voting block with the fundamentalists over and over again. ... Clearly our task of educating the public is not finished, but we feel confident that when the facts are known, our seven recommended candidates will be elected ...,” MacDonald wrote.

On Monday, Abell dismissed MacDonald’s release as another in a long string of provocations by the EACC.

‘‘They’re just trying to tie my hands completely,” Abell said of her frequent clashes with the teachers union leadership. ‘‘I’m so tired of sitting there and taking it.”

Three other incumbents — Collins Bailey, Mark Crawford and Turner Coggins — also made it through the primary elimination round, but finished in the middle of the pack.

‘‘They mobilized their troops,” Crawford said of the EACC’s influence on the primary election. However, he said he believes that the general election would more accurately reflect the opinion of Charles County voters. ‘‘I’m looking forward ... to getting back on the board. I think we have a good thing going. ... If people think their schools are good, that should reflect on the [incumbent] school board.”

Bailey said he believed MacDonald’s release was not representative of the EACC as an organization.

‘‘I believe I have a great rapport with the teachers,” Bailey, the board’s current chairman, said. He said the EACC leadership has ‘‘not conducted itself in a way that reflects the teachers as a whole” and called for a ‘‘more professional tone” in their communications.

Incumbent Margaret Young publicly withdrew from the race, but her candidacy is still considered viable by the elections board. The board said Young has yet to submit a Declination of Nomination form to withdraw her candidacy.

Young drew 4,361 votes, or 4.99 percent.

She could not be reached for comment on the status of her candidacy.

Four other candidates — Narain Mathur, Edward Holland, Kevin Ritter and Bill Proper — received the lowest vote totals. The four men were eliminated from the November contest. Mathur received the highest number of votes among the eliminated candidates, but he will not be allowed a space on the general election, even if Young officially withdraws.

‘‘I don’t think Mrs. Young did the right thing for the voters,” said Mathur, who missed a slot on the general election ballot by 753 votes. ‘‘That’s not fair.”

E-mail Jay Friess at jfriess@somdnews.com.