7/22/09

 

Suburban News

 

Khalila Perrin

 

* Only write-ins will be in the field to fill the final two years of Terry Boyd’s term.

 

The general election is months away, but for Paul Carringer one question is already on the table.

“How do we get people to understand what value I can bring to the board and then get them to write me in,” said the Clintonville resident.

The 51-year-old is forming his first-ever campaign for the Columbus Board of Education. He’s one of potentially three candidates — including current board President Carol Perkins and incumbent Bryan Steward — who will have to make a name for themselves well enough to get residents’ write-in vote come Nov. 3.

They’re vying for the only unexpired term on the board.

Voters will have to write in their choice on the ballot because Steward, who was vying to retain the unexpired term, failed to gather enough valid signatures to have his name appear on the pre-printed ballots.

Steward was appointed to fill the seat of former board President Terry Boyd in February. The final two years of that term is the unexpired term on the ballot this fall.

The fact that the race for the unexpired term will be all write-in candidates adds an “interesting dynamic” to the campaign season, Carringer said.

He’s never voted for a write-in candidate and said informing voters about how it’s done will be “an important part of the discussion” for his campaign.

He’ll be attending community meetings in the coming months to talk about his qualifications and the write-in process, he said.

“I think that’s the best and most effective way to get started,” said Carringer who is a Whetstone High School graduate and the father of two CCS students.

A longtime Clintonville resident, Carringer is no stranger to having his “feet on the street” in the community, he said.

He served from 1986 to 2005 on the Clintonville Area Commission and was also a member of the Sharon Heights Community Association.

His involvement with the commission gives him a valuable edge, he said.

“It helped me become versed in community affairs and how to work with city government … for positive solutions to neighborhood concerns,” said Carringer, who is an assistant professor at Columbus State Community College and a part-time adjunct professor at Franklin University. He also owns and operates CaringDirect, a local marketing company.

If elected, he said he wants to be an advocate for teachers and parents; publicize students’ achievements more; and keep the district’s spending plan fiscally conservative.

“The board really needs to have some fiscal restraint … and work with the administration and the unions and other groups to make sure that money isn’t squandered,” he said.

Candidates whose names will appear for the three full-term seats also up for election in November are: incumbent appointee Ramona Reyes, Hanifah Kambon and Mike Wiles. They could run unopposed.

Perkins, who was appointed to the board in February 2007 and elected later that year, said she hasn’t ruled out seeking write-in candidacy for one of the full-term seats.

Kambon is a retired teacher who taught in the district for more than 30 years.

Reyes, the board’s first Hispanic member, was appointed to the board in January to replace W. Carlton Weddington following his resignation.

Wiles, a South Side resident, has sought election to the board three times and has applied for appointed seats at least five times.

Write-in candidates must file their declarations of intent by 4 p.m. Sept. 2.