During its March 3 meeting, the Columbus City Council will make two appointments to the Columbus Municipal School Board of Trustees. Four people — Stephen Jones, Lori LeVar Pierce, Jo Shumake and Eric Thomas — have applied for the positions formerly held by Greg Lewis, who resigned in December, and Currie Fisher, whose term expires in February.
As is customary with the City Council, these appointments will be made without the benefit of a formal face-to-face interview by which the council and public can hear from the candidates.
Given the gravity of the situation, this borders on reckless. Ask anyone who runs a business; we venture he or she will tell you it’s inconceivable they would hire someone without a face-to-face interview.
Yet, the process will be conducted as it has always been by this body: A candidate will get a motion, a second and a vote will be held — almost assuredly without any discussion. If the candidate receives the requisite four votes, the candidate will be appointed. And then it’s done. We have two new school board members serving five-year terms (in the case of Lewis’ replacement, a four-year term) without having been interviewed.
It’s simply crazy.
Yet, that’s the way it works, or has worked. And, according to Mayor Robert Smith, when asked last week, that’s the way it will continue to work.
And the council isn’t the only public body that makes appointments this way. Lowndes County uses the same method.
Gosh, we would hate our elected officials to be inconvenienced by the hour or so it would take to actually publicly interview four candidates.
During their term of service, school board members will be required to interact with the public, so why not start now?
The decisions the school board makes go a long way in determining whether our schools will flourish or flounder. Given the grave status of the city’s schools and the far-reaching implications that come from a inferior school system, these are two appointments critical to the city’s future.
We again urge the city council and all local public bodies to make every effort to choose the best candidates for board appointments. Part of that process should be face-to-face interviews conducted in public.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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