As I watched the special school board meeting Monday night, I could not help but think over and over again what a great crop of candidates were up for the vote. I smiled even wider when those same candidates recognized that and shared aloud the same sentiment.

It was incredibly unfortunate for the district to lose Teri Ellefson from the School District of Monroe Board of Education in March. Teri is an incredibly well-respected person in our community, who has faced the toughest of tests in life. And yet, she used her experience to find ways to assist our community and our students with help in mental health, and camaraderie, and the basic sharing of love.

Losing Teri from the board was truly a loss for us all. But as we have all learned, life must go on. 

To fill Teri’s seat, seven candidates applied. All seven brought honest-to-god qualities with them. To those who watched, you could tell that without question each candidate was passionate about their community. They brought a variety of skillsets, a wide range of ideas, and were open and honest during the 2-hour meeting/interview process. 

The school board had a choice that seemed impossible to make — which one was the best fit? At the same time, it was the easiest choice, as I believe all seven would have made a great addition to the board.

You had teachers and those with educational backgrounds. There were blue collar businessmen — those that both had to work the business end, while also fully aware and understanding of the grittiness of “getting the job done.” There were others with previous history on school boards in other parts of the state. You had candidates that moved here 10, 20 or even 40 years ago. There were other candidates yet that were born and raised here. Young candidates, candidates with young children either already enrolled in the district or will be in a year or two. Others were retired, with grandchildren in the district. 

While every candidate received about only 10 minutes of talking time during the whole process, it felt like a personal conversation that went on for an hour. I was invested, and not just because I was writing a story on it, or I personally had known this candidate or that for 30 years. I was invested because this crop of candidates was incredible.

Board president Rich Deprez even made a hearty quip about re-sizing the board to 15 members instead of 9, so that all seven could make it. Honestly, he’s not that wrong with that assessment.

One thing that tugged at me personally was, “how can we at the Times do a better job for the next election?” For years our process has been to send out a questionnaire and let the candidates fill them out. Some do extensively. Some scribble a sentence or two per topic, and some never respond. 

I sometimes wonder how much a person would want the job if they are unwilling to even fill out a simple candidate profile questionnaire. Then again, maybe we have been doing it all wrong. Perhaps we will need to take an approach like this special school board post, regardless of how impractical it might be on our end. It’s one thing if, in order to the get the job, they HAVE to show up for an interview in front of the board. We don’t have that kind of power.

Even still, I think a town hall/debate style open mic questionnaire with the candidates all getting small segments to speak directly in front of voters — their neighbors, coworkers, and local strangers — would mean more than any town hall brought on by a major politician. Hearing these passionate, smart, invested candidates share their ideas and why they would be a good fit is so much more riveting than any Facebook comment thread could ever produce. We would be a better community for doing this more. 

I offer my congratulations to Jim Curran, who was elected in the final opportunity by the board and will have one year to prove his worth. I think he will do great. I’ve known Jim for many years, and he is passionate about education, the youth in this town, and the community in general.

But now I also must devise a plan for 11 months from now, when the next election comes due. My favorite part about living in a democracy is letting the people’s voice be heard, one way or the other. 

I also understand that I have the responsibility to my community to present them with the best depiction of each candidate in a local race. Monday’s process reinvigorated me to be better than the status quo, and to devise a plan of action to present a deeper, more colorful and well-rounded background of the candidates before we go to the polls to choose.

— Adam Krebs is the editor of the Times. His column “From Left Field” appears periodically. Adam can be reached at editor@themonroetimes.com.