Clear the smoke; no secret ballots for appointments

The addition of Mat-Su Valley political maven Myrl Thompson to the Mat-Su Borough School Board has already dusted up some minor debate over a comment about Thompson’s perceived motives school board Vice President Cheryl Turner made following the appointment. What’s being lost in the thinly veiled smokescreen of a relatively innocuous comment is how Thompson’s appointment happened in the first place.

The board interviewed a handful of candidates Wednesday evening, but when it came to members casting their final votes on who would fill the vacant Seat B on the board, they did so by secret ballot. While not technically adjourning to another room to hold the vote behind closed doors, the action had the same effect — to keep the public in the dark.

Although Alaska state law allows the board to hold a secret ballot in this case, that doesn’t mean it should. By voting in secret, the taxpayers and residents of the school district are denied valuable information and insight into their elected representatives. It’s a practice that goes against operating as openly and as transparently as possible, and does nothing to help maintain the public’s trust.

The secret ballot vote was explained by a school distinct official as a way to avoid animosity and maintain integrity among board members. With Turner’s quick quip about Thompson’s political motives, it seems the first part of that goal was blown out of the water before leaving the harbor. As for maintaining integrity, operating in secret, to deliberately take an important vote outside the public’s watchful eye, hurts the board’s integrity with the public.

Like any elected body, appointing people to fill vacated seats is a regular and normal practice. Making those appointments anonymously is not.

In Houston, the city council has had its share of debate and bickering, including two recent resignations. One seat on the council, vacated by former Mayor Steve Frost, was made with an open vote. A decision on the other seat is still pending.

There are legitimate decisions and actions an elected board must take away from public scrutiny, like dealing with personnel matters, ongoing contract negotiations or delicate legal matters.

Choosing a new school board member is not a personnel decision and that the candidates were interviewed in public prior to Wednesday’s decision shows the school district acknowledges the public’s right to be a witness to the process. That the conclusion of that process happened in secret was a mistake. Because it can isn’t a valid reason. The only ones who should be casting secret ballots when choosing school board members are Valley voters.