Herald recommends Edward Viltz in runoff for Manatee County School Board D-1
Edward Viltz and Gina Messenger rose to the top in the four-way primary contest to inherit the District 1 seat on the Manatee County School Board. By the slimmest of margins, Viltz bested Messenger by earning 28 percent of the ballots to his opponent’s 27.3 percent.
Voters have two contrasting choices in this November runoff to succeed Bob Gause on the board: the warm enthusiasm of the 29-year-old Messenger and her six years teaching in Title 1, low-income schools in Marion and Orange counties, or the considerable capabilities of the 69-year-old Viltz and his two decades as a corporate executive and entrepreneur and six years as a consultant, mentor and math teacher in a Manatee County Title 1 school that he helped jump from an F grade to an A. Either way, the school board will benefit from a new member with experience helping at-risk students.
With age comes experience, and Viltz’s résumé contains a broad background in business, government and education as well as community service. His 15 years as a chief executive officer, president or vice president with mostly technology companies should be an advantage as the school district continues to advance both hardware and software. Board memberships and visiting professorships at various universities, including Florida A&M, establish his credentials at a higher level in education. Like his university board experience, 20 years with IBM in program management and executive leadership also demonstrate his policy-making skills.
That’s the fundamental mission of the Manatee County School Board, policy, not micromanagement, as certain members have pursued in the past.
Indeed, Viltz’s platform addresses that issue with his three top goals, as stated in this Editorial Board’s endorsement in the primary. Those three are: Not intervening in operational disputes that are the superintendent’s responsibility; sharpening the board’s focus on policy, oversight and “the big picture of districtwide needs,” he states; and strengthening the board’s efforts to operate professionally, collaboratively and productively.
Beyond that, Viltz holds a master of arts degree in organizational management and a bachelor of science in psychology, both advantageous on a once highly dysfunctional and divided board still struggling to restore the public’s trust.
As previously stated here, no one person can solve that ongoing issue, but Viltz holds many tools that could go a long way toward improving community relations and board performance.
He also intends to place a stronger focus on boosting the graduation rate through continued early intervention — with an emphasis on at-risk youth whose graduation rate is abysmal. Mentoring has been proven to be an effective strategy in preventing dropouts, and Viltz’s experience with this should boost the district’s efforts.
As a supporter of the November referendum on the extension of half-cent sales tax for district improvements, Viltz told the Herald the board “can ensure the money is spent effectively by putting benchmarks in place to track usage against mutually agreed upon renovation and infrastructure priorities ...” with quarterly audit reports to the board — which is similar to Messenger’s position. The public would demand nothing less than keen oversight.
With his strong background, Viltz will be a valuable member on the school board. For Manatee County School Board District 1, the Bradenton Herald Editorial Board recommends Edward Viltz.
Candidate replies
Candidates who do not receive the Herald Editorial Board's endorsement are invited to submit a response of up to 300 words. Those can be sent to letters@bradenton.com or faxed to 745-7097.
View candidate forums
The Herald, in partnership with Manatee Educational Television, has videotaped candidate forums in these contested races. These forums can be viewed on www.youtube.com/manateeeducationaltv (click on Videos). METV is also regularly airing all the forums, and the station can be viewed on Brighthouse channel 614, Verizon FIOS 31 and Comcast 19. For METV air times, visit www.metvweb.com.
This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Herald recommends Edward Viltz in runoff for Manatee County School Board D-1."