The Hamilton County Commission voted 5-4 Thursday to appoint Greg Martin to the District school board seat vacated by Everett Fairchild, who resigned for health reasons. The action came after a lamentable lack of public engagement on the part of the commission. Unfortunately, that’s been the way the commission conducts its business lately.
County residents deserve better. The appointment of a school board member for a term that extends for two years — when Fairchild’s term would have expired — is much too important to become embroiled in the petty politics and self-serving interests of the commission. That seems to have occurred in the run-up to Martin’s appointment.
Eleven individuals applied for the school board post, including at least four former educators. Most of those seeking appointment were not well known in the district they hoped to serve. Providing a forum for aspirants to express their views about school policies is, whether they like it or not, a responsibility that should be borne by the commission. Public interviews would meet that need, providing the commission and public with information necessary to form opinions about the viability of each candidate.
Such transparency is essential to good government. Most members of the commission conveniently overlook that responsibility.
Old-fashioned, back-scratching politics — not what would be best for the county’s schools and those who attend them — appears to have driven the commission vote for Martin. Indeed, one unsuccessful candidate for the school board post — Jamie Goebel — said publicly that the Thursday vote was more a referendum on Mitch McClure, the lame duck District 3 commissioner, and the upcoming election to replace him, than it was about the school board post. If that’s the case — and there’s no compelling evidence to the contrary — the public’s interest was not served.