A mayoral candidate has applied for a seat on the Columbus Municipal School District Board of Trustees, raising questions of what might happen if an individual secures both positions.
Garthia Halbert, a former Dispatch managing editor, is running as a Republican candidate for mayor. Halbert has also applied for CMSD board member Jason Spears’ seat on the school board.
Spears’ five-year term ends on March 1. The council can appoint someone to the position at its meeting this evening, which will begin at 5 p.m. at the Municipal Complex. Spears, a local financial adviser, has applied for reappointment. A third candidate, independent education consultant Yvonne Cox, is also vying for the spot.
However, it’s unclear what might happen if a person gains appointment to the school board, then wins an election as the mayor.
City Attorney Jeff Turnage said a provision in Section 18 of the city code may prevent simultaneous service as mayor and school board member. He noted the city has previously received an attorney general’s opinion that a city council member cannot hold a council seat and another state office, but it’s not clear if that extends to a mayor.
The section, which addresses vacancies in mayor and council offices, says, “…if said mayor or any councilman shall accept any other office in this state, the office of such mayor and councilman shall thereby become vacant and the city council shall at once cause an election to be held by the qualified voters of the city to fill such vacancy.”
Chris Hemphill, an attorney who works with CMSD, said he thought a person holding both seats would raise a number of ethical or conflict of interest concerns.
“The city council appoints the school board, and if there’s a tiebreaker, the mayor has to cast the tie-breaking vote,” Hemphill said. “The city is also the (tax) levying authority for the school district, and I think that creates a conflict.”
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones, who served on the school board until he won his seat last year, said he doesn’t think it’s possible to hold both the mayor’s office and a school board seat.
Jones noted that appointing someone to the school board, then having to replace them if they won the mayor’s office, would be a waste of city resources because new board members have to go to Jackson to take classes on how to serve on the school board.
“If a person is going to run for mayor, they should focus on running for mayor since it’s so close,” Jones said. “It wouldn’t make sense to appoint someone to that seat if they’re possibly going to have to leave it in a few months. By the time a person gets into that job, we’d have to get someone else appointed.”
Halbert did not respond to numerous attempts made over the course of Monday and Tuesday for comment.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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