Carpenter persuades board to revisit election structure

The School Board of Manatee County voted to revisit the debate over single-member district school board elections versus at-large elections during its Tuesday night meeting.

Board member Karen Carpenter proposed revisiting the issue, saying she had changed her mind on the topic.

On Feb. 14, Carpenter opposed a resolution to hold a referendum during the 2018 general election on whether board members should be voted in at-large elections or in single-member district elections.

“I now am convinced that it’s really up to the voter to decide,” Carpenter said. “I think it’s presumptuous for three of us to say, ‘Oh no, we are going to decide.’”

Board member Dave Miner voiced strong support for reconsidering the decision. He argued that not letting voters decide on the issue implied the board did not trust the community’s wisdom.

“Do we trust people who don’t trust us?” Miner asked the board, stepping to the lectern from the dais for an extended speech on the topic. “We need the community to trust us, so we need to trust them.”

The board will revisit the issue at the March 14 meeting.

This story was originally published February 28, 2017 at 9:47 PM with the headline "Carpenter persuades board to revisit election structure."