Dishing up decent SB candidates

There’s a reality in the pecking order of races at election time.

County commission gets all the local glory. It garners the most attention, usually the most campaign money, and definitely the best conversation.

A competitive legislative race can get our attention, but more as a spectator rather than anything we’re actually invested in.

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In some years, a sheriff’s race or open constitutional position, like supervisor of elections in 2020, will perk our ears.

Universally, though, the school board rarely hits the sweet spot.

And so it is again this year, where school board District 5 includes an 18-year incumbent (Linda Powers), a respected school resource officer (Joe Faherty), a retired Citrus County middle school teacher (Deborah Daniels), and another candidate whose opinions are not in line with our community at all.

I’ve had Cattle Dog chats with all three and am impressed with their sincerity. That is vital in a Citrus County political environment where the Library Guy Gang and its following (including the fourth candidate, Mary Seader) are bent on raising Cain for their own self-seeking glories.

As for the three I mentioned, here’s something about each one:

— Linda Powers was elected to the school board in 2004, the same year Sandra “Sam” Himmel was elected superintendent. That’s 18 years of experience on the board of a school district that, despite its recent ‘C’ grade, is a model of success. With Himmel likely retiring in 2024, we’ll need a strong cohesive school board to help usher in the next administrative era.

(“Cohesive” doesn’t mean they agree on everything. It means they’re all steering the ship on the same course.)

— Joe Faherty just received the coolest recognition, and people should know about it: Florida Association of School Resource Officers’ Lifetime Achievement Award. SROs play a vital role in the schools and Faherty wears that role on his sleeve. He’s retiring from the sheriff’s office in November.

— Deborah Daniels taught in middle school and that alone qualifies her for politics. During our talk Wednesday, I was impressed with her knowledge of new state laws that will have a significant impact in classrooms. Daniels was involved in the teachers’ union, and she came to the campaign carrying the teacher’s voice. She may be onto something.

As for campaign finances, Faherty leads the pack.

He’s raised about $12,400 from 66 contributors, and invested $700 of his own money. He’s the only school board candidate with the maximum individual $1,000 contribution — Faherty has five of those.

A contribution of note is from former Rep./Commissioner Jimmie T. Smith, who gave a $500 donation. Faherty’s wife, Dawn, worked for Smith as an aide when he was in the House; Smith’s wife, Victoria, is president of the teachers’ union.

Daniels collected $4,000 from 38 donors, investing $100 of her own money. Donors include $500 from the Citrus County Democratic Executive Committee.

 I know school board candidates need money for campaigns but I sure wish they would stay away from political party endorsements.

School board is nonpartisan for a reason. Voters wanted politics out of school boards so much they changed the state Constitution to make it happen. I’m not naive to believe Democrats and Republicans don’t have candidates in the nonpartisan school board race. I’d just prefer they didn’t flaunt it.

Powers’ campaign is nearly all self-funded: $8,500 of the $9,700 collected came from Powers herself.

(You can see the campaign reports here.)


Unlike other races higher up in the pecking order, we don’t get to see school board candidates speaking all that much. In fact, tonight’s our last chance.

The Citrus Springs Civic Association meet-the-candidates forum, which starts at 6 p.m. at the Citrus Springs Community Center, will include speeches from school board candidates. I encourage all who have the time to go check that out.

That said, it’s likely this race won’t end on Aug. 23. School board is an odd duck in the primary: The overall winner has to get more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff, which in this case is the November election.

Daniels, Faherty and Powers all stack up well against one another. It’s difficult to see any getting the 50%-plus-1 vote to win the election outright in August.

Looks like we’ve got some homework to do.

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