School board candidates file for elections

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Published: December 17, 2008

MCT REGIONAL NEWS

By G. Jeff Golden

The Daily Times, Farmington, N.M.

(MCT)

Dec. 17--AZTEC -- Candidates for the February school board elections officially informed the San Juan County Clerk's Office on Tuesday of their intent to run.

Elections are scheduled for Feb. 3. Candidates had to file between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday.

School boards stagger their elections every other year to avoid overwhelming turnover rates. At least two school board slots, out of 5, are open in each school system. The winners will begin their terms March 1.

Two seats are up for grabs on the Farmington Municipal Schools Board of Education, and neither of the incumbents is running for re-election. Both board vice president Dean Pecotte and board member Rod Conover served two terms after being initially elected in 2001. Conover and Pecotte voiced their intention to step down prior to Tuesday's filing deadline.

A pair of candidates, Nancy Delong and Donna Walker, are vying for Conover's vacant District 2 seat. William Young was the only person to file for the District 3 seat. Farmington Municipal Schools Superintendent Janel Ryan expects an easy transition.

''I don't think there will be any difficulty at all. I'm sure anyone that signs up will be an asset to the district," Ryan said.

Aztec Municipal School District board president Mitch Waggoner will campaign against newcomer Robert Carman. Board secretary Christy Lillywhite is running for re-election and faces no opposition.

The terms of Evelyn Benny, Karen Ransom and Jerry McKee expired in the Bloomfield

School District, and all three filed for re-election. McKee, of District 4, and Benny, of District 5, are running unopposed. Ransom, the sitting school board president from District 2, will square off against challenger Dale Walls. Ransom was elected in 1997 and has served three terms.

''They've all been good board members," said Randy Allison, superintendent of the Bloomfield district.

Voters in Bloomfield also will decide the fate of a bond in February's election. The bond is worth $35 million and the majority will go toward additions and renovations to Bloomfield High School. About $5 million would be dedicated to upgrading the district's technology and maintenance infrastructure.

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