May 27, 2010 — At tonight’s meeting of the Orcas Island School District Board, Jim Sullivan was appointed to the at-large director position vacated by Keith Whitaker, who resigned in March to apply for the position of District Business Manager.
Bob Connell and Marian O’Brien had also sought the position.The Board approved the motion by member Tony Ghazel to appoint Jim Sullivan to school board, who said, “All three candidates are great for the school; it is really hard to pick like this.”
During the discussion period following the motion, Board President Scott Lancaster read a legal opinion sought by Superintendent Barbara Kline when all three candidates presented conflict of interest concerns, based on each of their spouse’s employment with the district: Sullivan’s wife Linda is a Special Education teacher; Connell’s wife Barbara Skotte is a substitute teacher with the district, and O’Brien is married to Keith Whitaker.
The letter from Attorney Mike Hoge, of the law firm Perkins Coie, outlined the parameters the district must observe in conducting District Board business, policy and law.
Lancaster said, “This is the toughest thing I’ve had to do in my five years on the board.”
Sullivan had run for the School District in the 2009 election, and was defeated by Board Member Chris Sutton, who abstained from voting on Ghazel’s motion to appoint Sullivan to the Board.
Upon being sworn in and joining the board, Sullivan thanked the board,and said, “I’m humbled and honored to be able to pitch in here.”
Sullivan is employed by the Islands Sounder. He and his wife Linda moved to Orcas Island in 2006 from Bend, Oregon.
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