Trustees defer declaring school board vacancy
COEUR d'ALENE - Sid Fredrickson is the new chair of the Coeur d'Alene School District Board of Trustees.
The position had been held by Wanda Quinn since July. A district court judge ruled Wednesday that Quinn's June appointment to the the Zone 1 trustee position was "null and void."
Fredrickson was elected to the role unanimously by the three trustees remaining on the board - Tom Hamilton, Terri Seymour and Diane Zipperer - during a special board meeting held Friday to consider whether to declare a vacancy on the board.
Hamilton was elected to the position of vice-chair, also a unanimous decision.
After ratifying the district's 2011-12 budget, passed in July with Quinn making one of the majority affirmative votes, the trustees did not formally declare a vacancy on the board before adjourning.
"I would say that at this time, it certainly is our option to declare a vacancy if we'd like to do so, and frankly, the board has the option at this point to proceed through with an appointment. There may be wisdom in that," Hamilton said. "I would put forward that during the last election, there was a very close election. That's a possible solution, but I'm not sure that warrants discussion tonight or if prudence would dictate that we seek the advice of legal counsel on how to proceed."
Fredrickson said he felt they should wait for additional legal advice before moving forward, and adjourned the meeting.
Hamilton was referring to former school board election candidate Jim Purtee, when he spoke about looking at the last "very close election" when determining how to fill the the seat left open by Quinn.
Purtee, who attended and observed Friday's special meeting, was defeated by Edie (Brooks) McLachlan in the 2009 school board election by seven votes. Quinn was appointed to fill McLachlan's seat after McLachlan resigned in June.
Idaho code requires that a school board must declare a vacancy within 30 days when any trustee is "recalled and discharged from office as provided in law."
Following the meeting, Charles Dodson, the school district's attorney, said that in his opinion, the clock for the process of declaring a vacancy started ticking Wednesday, when the judge gave his ruling to invalidate Quinn's appointment.
The law further requires the school board members to appoint a new trustee from Zone 1 within 90 days of declaring the vacancy. If, by that time, they are unable to appoint someone from the zone, they can appoint a trustee at-large from within the district.
If the board is unable to appoint a trustee after 120 days, Idaho code calls for the county board of commissioners to make an appointment.
Quinn was appointed in June to replace Edie McLachlan, who on May 19 announced her future resignation. The board declared a vacancy at that time. McLachlan initially announced her resignation would be effective June 30, but on June 6, she announced that would be her last day in the position.
During a special board meeting on June 6, McLachlan remained on the board and participated in interviewing candidates seeking appointment to the position she was leaving. McLachlan voted on Quinn's appointment.
Trustees Hamilton and Seymour filed a complaint in Kootenai County Court last summer alleging that the board's process in appointing Quinn was illegal.
Second District Judge Michael Griffin ruled Wednesday that Quinn's appointment did not comply with the statute.
Since June, Quinn has been an active board member, voting on numerous decisions.
Following the meeting, new chair Sid Fredrickson said the board will continue to seek legal advice regarding the validity of those decisions.
It is likely, Fredrickson said, that they will ratify some other decisions, as they did with the budget during Friday's meeting.