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Community Corner

Meet the School Board Candidates

The "Meet the School Board Candidates" forum was presented by the League of Women Voters Tuesday evening at Crestview Middle School.  The seating area was packed with interested constituents and many had to stand.  The audience was encouraged to submit written questions for the candidates and many did so.  The questions were posed by the moderator from the League of Women Voters, who hosted this event.  The candidates each provided a personal statement, this was followed the Q & A session where each provided their response to each question, and then each provided closing remarks.  

The questions were not overly challenging and typically not controversial, so most answers were in general concordance.  But as the truism states, sometimes "it is not what you say but how you say it" that was particularly striking, and each candidate's response clearly demonstrated their own personal style, intellectual capability, confidence in the public arena, and knowledge.

Since many did not get to participate in this insightful opportunity I describe below some take-aways, candidate by candidate.  The reader is encouraged to seek-out others present to validate my statements and also maybe those present will "Reply" to this message, adding their own thoughts.  Note that each candidates bio is listed here: http://www.rockwood.k12.mo.us/boardofeducation/Pages/Board-of-Education-Candidate-Profiles-.aspx

Keith Kinder (elected incumbent): Ph.D. in Education; currently a Professor of Education at Maryville Univ., was previously principal of Eureka H.S. and also served as an administrator at Marquette and Lafayette H.S.'s.  His 17 year tenure as teacher and administrator in RSD was part of a 32 year career in education.  Dr. Kinder expressed a thorough knowledge of the current hot-topics, the rules/regs of the School Board position, and the important but arcane details of why many things are done in a particular way,and why state law does not allow certain other things to be done.  He spoke directly to each subject, not mincing words, and in so doing incorporated logic and also some passion to several issues.  Moving beyond the simple Q&A format, on several occasions Dr. Kinder expressed his dismay about the poor behavior of the RS for RS "citizens" group and also their candidate for the Board, Ms. Tyrrell, going so far as to chastise them on one or two occasions for the negative media statements they have made about RSD.  The audience liked Dr. Kinder for his refreshingly straight talk and depth of knowledge and experience. In my seating area many commented that his credentials in the educational arena combined with his experience on the Board makes him a must-have Board member regardless of who fills the other two positions that are up for election.

Matt Doell (elected incumbent): Mr. Doell holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering followed by an MBA, which he earned while full-time employed, and is currently a V.P. at Sachs Electrical - located within Rockwood.  Prior to settling in our region many years ago, his previous engineering career took him to many international locations servicing government (inc. military) installations.  Additionally, Mr. Doell holds a position of national office within his engineering trade group, is active in Boy Scout leadership (once a Den Father), etc., demonstrating previous civic engagement and providing additional experience working with others outside of the formal workplace.  He is the parent of children in Rockwood schools.  In answering questions Mr. Doell was also a straight-talker and clearly and articulately took his turn at answering the questions posed to the group.  He demonstrated good analytical reasoning (the engineering vocation coming through) and presented a calm and thoughtful demeanor, and, like Dr. Kinder, possessed an excellent grasp of the District's finance, plans, and issues that illustrated the significant time he has spent preparing for Board meetings, although his tenure on the Board began relatively recently.  Although Mr. Doell took a much more neutral tone, probably to avoid offending anyone in the audience, at times it was apparent that he was also unhappy with the behavior of the RS for RS group and their co-founder / candidate Ms. Eileen Tyrrell.  The audience was attentive when Mr. Doell spoke and he appeared to be well regarded by the audience and I think knowledgable voters will support his reelection.

Darby Jo Arakelian: (recently appointed incumbent): Ms. Arakelian earned first a B.A. while studying Political Science /Economics/Russian and then moved-on to earn an M.S. in security policy, earning the latter at The George Washington University (Wash D.C.).  Her career is in the field of defense-intelligence and strategy and she is employed as an industry consultant and Senior Associate at Command Strategies.  Ms. Arakelian smoothly answered the questions, but being a recently appointed interim member of the Board, did not have the depth of knowledge presented by Kindler and Doell.  But aspects of Ms. Arakelian style were clear from her behavior and worded responses; she is trying to get along with everyone, including the other candidates, and she appeared intelligent and confident. From her career role one might also assume that she is a good listener, and this attribute would be useful on the Board, where discussions can sometimes turn fractious (ergo her very discernible effort to get along).

Dominique' A. Paul: Ms. Paul has a B.A. degree from Ohio State University and is in the real estate business.  This was not mentioned at the Forum, but worth mentioning as an aside is that her husband is Mayor of Ellisville, so it is clear that participation in community functions is not a new undertaking for her.  She and Ms. Arakelian were the youngest of the candidates, with the youngest children in RSD. Ms. Paul came across as a sincere and earnest candidate.  She expressed her interest in participating on the Board as emanating from having young children in our schools, and listed an impressive list of other non-profit volunteer organizations where she participates, which includes several ones associated with our schools (including a leadership position).  Editorially speaking, I believe the audience liked Ms. Paul recognizing her sincerity when, on multiple occasions, she appeared flustered and somewhat tongue-tied during certain her answers.  This may represent her participation in a forum where all the other candidates and many in the audience were significantly older, and where Ms. Paul is the only genuine "outsider" candidate among the contenders, each of whom arrives with some kind of record and support group.  If Ms. Paul is not elected to serve this term I think she could return in a few years represent herself as a stronger candidate.

Ms. Eileen Tyrrell:  Ms. Tyrrell holds a high school degree from Arizona, where she grew-up.  Ms. Tyrrell did not mention an employment history but has previously held a position as PTO committee chair in addition to other less official school-volunteer roles.  She moved to RSD around 2007, and in 2011 co-founded a private organization called RSRS, RSforRS, or more accurately, "Rockwood Stakeholders for Responsible Solutions", where she also served as a vocal spokesperson until she declared her candidacy for the Board in December.  For many, Ms.Tyrrell is most well known through her role with RSforRS where she has has led a relentless, controversial, and what many feel are malicious series of public attacks against the Rockwood School District and its administrators, going so far as to publicly target individual members (a Google search is quite illuminating).  Many will recognize her name in association with the caustic RSforRS mass e-mails that clog your in-box from time to time.  In keeping with her style of indiscriminate attacks, in one of her out-of-context responses she blurted-out a complaint about the salary of one of the RSD administrators (I will not repeat the name and salary), an action that drew a disappointing look from Dr. Kinder, who later remarked to lament this pattern of behavior, revealing confidential information about unique individuals in public, and how inappropriate it was.  Although Ms. Tyrrell had a few of her small support group in the audience (they clapped several times at some of her outlandish comments and were repeatedly shushed by the moderator), the crowd could discern the other candidates wince at these same comments, demonstrating  their apprehension at the possibility that Ms. Tyrrell might gain a seat on the Board and bring her disruptive behavior to the meetings.  So much so that during closing remarks, another candidate stated that "... before you there are four qualified candidates that care for your kids running in this election", clearly referring to Ms. Tyrrell as the (unqualified) fifth candidate.  Editorially speaking, Ms. Tyrrell's candidacy arrives with much negative baggage.

Remember to vote on April 8.  

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