School Board Fills Vacant Seat, Prepares for Upcoming Elections
By, Crystal A. Proxmire
From a group of five applicants, The Ferndale Board of Education selected Jim Pfleger to fill a vacant seat on the board through May 2011. The seat was vacated on Feb. 23, 2010 when Board Treasurer Bruce Bethuy resigned.
Robert Bokram, Kevin Deegan-Krause, Raylon E. Leaks-May, Bradford Parks and Jim Pfleger all submitted applications for the seat. The Board went through several rounds of nominations and voting before narrowing it down to Plfeger and Deegan-Krause.
“I was so impressed there were five people out there that want to do our job,” said Board Secretary Darcy McLaughlin. “Sometimes we can feel a little unloved.”
Karen Twomey, who was appointed Treasurer to fill Bethuy’s spot, recommended Deegan-Krause for the open seat. “All of the candidates talked about the financial issues, but he’s the only one that brought us a ‘how.’” Deegan-Krause is known for his work helping the Library Milage pass, and for re-organizing the Friends of the Ferndale Public Library Group. (found at www.ferndalefriends.org).
Carol Frederick pushed for Pfleger’s appointment, saying “He has been prepared to be a Board Member. He has come to our meetings. That has set him apart. Not a whole lot apart, but that’s why I support him.”
Jim Pfleger has been an involved parent and community resident for the Ferndale Public Schools for many years. His two daughters went through the Ferndale Schools: daughter Mariah graduated in 2008, and daughter Paige is currently a junior at Ferndale High School . His wife Liz is also a Ferndale High School graduate. He has served on the Board’s Finance Committee since 2006, is a board member of the Ferndale Fine Arts Boosters (The FAB), Vice President of the FHS Marching Band Committee, and Pit Boss for the Marching Band for the past two seasons. He has been a set construction volunteer for the Ferndale Musicals for nine years, serving as co-construction head the past two years. He has a Master's Degree in Business Administration from MSU and has worked for General Motors for 30 years, most recently in employee and benefits data analysis.
On Tuesday, May 4, 2010 registered voters in The Ferndale School District will have the opportunity to choose who fills two vacant seats. Current Board President W. Charles (Chuck) Moeser and Carol Frederick are incumbents who will be running, joined on the ballot by Kristy Stoll and Nancy Kerr-Mueller. Only two will be selected.
On Sunday, April 25, 2010, Citizens for Fair Ferndale will be hosting a forum for the School Board Candidates. The forum will be at The Kulick Center, 1201 Livernois in Ferndale at 1 P.M.
Citizens for Education support Chuck Moeser and Carol Frederick’s re-elections. Their website, with candidate information, is http://www.ferndalecbe.org. Chuck Moeser recently gave an interview with The Ferndale 115 News at http://www.ferndale115.com/19p11moeser.html. Kristy Stoll and Nancy Kerr-Mueller have joined forces to run for the vacant seats. Their joint website is http://nanandkristyforschoolboard.com/Welcome.html.
