SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS : Heil wins over McGinty; Halsell, Odom wait for October runoff
Posted on Wednesday, September 17, 2008
BROOKE McNEELY Northwest Arkansas Times Jay O. Howe, Conrad Odom supporter, and Jim Halsell, school board candidate, wave at drivers Tuesday afternoon in front of a polling place at Sequoyah United Methodist Church in Fayetteville. Residents voted in the at-large position 1 and 2 races for the Fayetteville School District Board of Education Tuesday.
Fayetteville School District voters chose to re-elect seven-year incumbent Susan Heil for at-large position 2, but the final winner of the at-large position 1 race will have to await the results of a runoff election. Heil was re-elected over newcomer James McGinty. She received 1,406 votes to McGinty’s 1,066, or a margin of 56.88 to 42.12 percent.
Results are unofficial until they are certified by the Washington County Election Commission.
“I want to thank all the people who voted for me,” Heil said.
McGinty said he was disappointed in the outcome but he appreciated the support and endorsements he did receive.
“ I knocked on at least a thousand doors,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you ask, ‘What could I have done differently.’”
In the at-large position 1 race, Jim Halsell and Conrad Odom received the most votes among the six candidates. But since neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be held in October.
Odom was the short-term incumbent in the race, as he was appointed to the position in July. “I’m excited about making the runoff,” he said.
“I’m very grateful. I had a lot of wonderful people helping me with the campaign,” Halsell said. “We had a number of good, quality candidates in this race, and I want to thank the people who stood up for (my election). I feel honored to come in first.”
Halsell received 930 votes, or 35.03 percent, while Odom received 687 votes, or 25.88 percent.
Other vote totals among the six candidates were 516 for Stacy Furlow, 288 for Jeanie Hill, 147 for Mike Malony and 87 for Joe Lee. Normally, the two at-large positions would not be up for election during the same year, but position 1 came up for election this year because former board member John Delap resigned this summer.
Whoever is elected to position 1 in the runoff will serve three years to fulfill the remaining time in the term. Heil will serve a five-year term in position 2.
One of the main issues all candidates were asked about in various forums leading up to the election was the future of the high school, an ongoing two-year debate in the community.
Recently, the district had hoped to sell the current campus to the University of Arkansas in order to help subsidize new construction elsewhere. However, the board has indicated it will now focus on redeveloping the current site since the UA withdrew its offer to buy the property last month.
McGinty favored developing a new school at the current location. Heil had been a new-site supporter leading up to the UA decision and favored a committee’s recent recommendation to move the school to Morningside Drive.
She said she looks forward to reaching a resolution on the issue in the coming months.
Heil said all the issues on the board’s plate, and some dissatisfaction about the time it has taken to reach a high school decision, did make the election a tough one for an incumbent.
“I think it was more difficult,” she said. “We have had more on our plate right now than at any other time since I’ve been on the board.”
Halsell has said he favors keeping the current location and redeveloping the site.
“I think we had a good message. We’re excited about the opportunity to build a world-class high school at the current site and talk about issues such as optimum school size,” he said.
Odom has said that with the withdrawal of the UA offer, he favors the most cost-effective option for developing a new school.
Board President Steve Percival said he couldn’t say for sure Tuesday how much a change in members might affect whether the board re-evaluates the high school decision.
“Every year when we get new board members, the dynamics change a bit,” he said. “It’s not really up to the president.”
Election Commission Chairman John Logan Burrow said he expected to certify the election a week from Friday.
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