It looks like Tharrington Smith will still be the Wake County school board's lawyer after Tuesday and, barring a coup, Ron Margiotta will remain the board chairman.
Tuesday marks the annual meeting held in June when the school board traditionally picks a chair, vice chair and board attorney for the upcoming year. The new majority decided not wait so they deposed Kevin Hill on Dec. 1 and replaced him with Margiotta.
Margiotta said he plans to stay on as chairman to continue the work begun by the new majority. Margiotta will stay on as chairman for the next year as long as the five-member majority sticks together.
Margiotta said he doesn't have reason to believe that he'd be replaced. Then again, Hill didn't think he'd be replaced in December.
Rumors have swirled since December that Debra Goldman would be the person that the board minority might target in hopes of replacing Margiotta. We'll see what happens Tuesday.
As for naming a board attorney, Margiotta said there are no plans to replace Tharrington Smith, which had held the job for some 30 years.
The board majority had hired Thomas Farr to conduct an audit of the district's legal services. Farr had praised Tharrington Smith but had proposed in his report replacing the firm with an in-house counsel.
Comments
Keep Ron as Chair
Sat, 06/12/2010 - 15:10 — MissVRon is pragmatic. He knows when to challenge, when to give in and how to undo the nonsense that is certain to keep floating upward. With a new superintendent to be selected, he also knows the intimate history of the inner workings and the type of personality needed to keep Wake County Public Schools moving forward.
And...
Sat, 06/12/2010 - 17:05 — Bob_SconceHe's also been on the board longer than any of the others -- that experience has to count for something.
Tedesco for Chair
Sat, 06/12/2010 - 08:36 — RKCurtrightI would like to see Tedesco as chair. RM is doing a fairly good job, though I believe JT to be more fiscally responsible, which is crucial right now. RM will be retiring in November/December. JT has proven to me he has the drive and the heart to at least listen to all citizens and try to build bridges. Sutton would be my first choice, but we know that will never happen with the current majority 5, so I would like to see JT as chair.
...
Sat, 06/12/2010 - 15:47 — Sideburns"RM will be retiring in November/December. "
Really?
Vote for Tedesco
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 18:52 — jgegbgmgI vote for Tedesco - That would make us the only school board in the country that has a chairperson who lives in their car !!!!!!
GOLDMAN or HILL
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 13:46 — ApexcitizenSad when your choices for BOE chair are Margiotta, Tedesco and Goldman! Who will be the lucky leader to continue to the policies to dumb down the kids of Wake county.
Actually I'd support either Ms Goldman o Mr Hill as they both have moments of being very pragmatic. We don't need ideologues like Margiotta and Tedesco.
Although I agree Ms Goldman has great organizational skills, but
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 12:42 — Athey01I worry that she does not have the thick skin necessary to deal with the firestorm that going to occur over the next 18 months. I think she would be better off continuing as the vice chair. However,it might be interesting if Mr. Tedesco replaced her as vice chair...but that would be a mistake, imo.
"if Tedesco replaced her as
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 12:47 — jeannie84"if Tedesco replaced her as vice chair..."
OMG, I can't imagine; she's already gnashing her teeth over how he has upstaged her to date!
Goldman Should be Chair
Fri, 06/11/2010 - 12:09 — WakeCountyParentI would love to see Margiotta replaced as Chair. He does a horrible job at running the meetings and keeping things on track. Half the time he has to be prompted to follow the appropriate rules of order.
Animal Control
Sat, 06/12/2010 - 10:40 — jgegbgmgPlus Margiotta is spending too much time trying to keep "the animals" in their cages - What a pitiful excuse for a chairperson he has been - Wonder if his folks up north were happy when he left their board to come south to destroy our school system !!!!!