New face elected to Marietta board

The Marietta Board of Education will welcome a new face in 2010 with challenger Karen Burton receiving enough votes Tuesday to knock one of the three incumbents out of the race.

Burton, board President Jack Moberg and board member Wendy Myers received the most votes in the three-seat race, with board member Ryan Elliott narrowly defeated.

"(Elliott) has taught me a lot, and I hate to think that I'm taking his place," said Myers. "The board right now has a lot of synergy. But I know that Karen is a compassionate, caring person, and I think we can work well together."

Burton could not be reached for comment Tuesday night but said in an earlier interview that she hoped to bring her experience as an educator to the board. She was a 39-year teacher who retired from the Warren Local district.

"All the people on the board are business people, and we need that because schools are a big business, but I also feel we need an educational perspective," she said previously.

Burton won 26.29 percent of the vote, the second highest of the four candidates. Moberg won the most, with 26.4 percent, while Myers had 24.34 percent of the vote and Elliott had 22.96 percent.

"It's nice to get that nod from the voters," said Moberg. "When you look at the numbers, they were very close across the board, so I don't know what exactly that means."

Myers said she was happy to be elected to the board for the first time. She was appointed to her current seat a year ago to fill a vacant position.

"It's exciting," she said Tuesday. "It's a good feeling. These guys invested a lot of time in me, and it was a year of just getting an education. It's exciting to be able to move forward now and know I'll be there for four years. I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead."

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Parrothead
11-04-09 12:38 PM »Report Abuse	Times poll - 71% do NOT want this back on the ballot
Parrothead
11-04-09 10:59 AM »Report Abuse	Now listen to the voters and drop the levy issue. Devise a new and better option.

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