School board campaigns begin

By Sheena Dooley and Steven Martens | Saturday, August 05, 2006

Now that the filing date has passed, school board election campaigns are in full swing.

The filing deadlines were Thursday.

In the Davenport School District, incumbents Larry Roberson and Patt Zamora will run unopposed to keep their three-year term on the board, while former Truman Elementary School principal Ken Krumwiede will run against Brenda Moore to complete the remaining two years of former board member Alan Guard’s term. Guard resigned from his post in April after becoming the Davenport city budget manager.

Krumwiede retired from the Davenport district more than a year ago after working there for 34 years as a teacher, central office coordinator, principal and special education coordinator. This is Moore’s second time running for a seat on the board. She previously lost to Tim Tupper by 94 votes, she said.

Bettendorf School District board members Tom Luton and Paul Castro, both former teachers, will run against Scott Tinsman and Betsy Justis to retain their positions on the board. In North Scott, Karen Storjohann, Steve Abney and incumbent Rex Masterson will vie for two seats on the board that are for three-year terms.

Pleasant Valley School District has three unopposed incumbent candidates looking to keep their positions. Dan Schurr is running for the director of District 1 position, while Joanne Messman is running for director of District 7. Heather Witters, who was appointed to fill Laura Hechtel’s spot when she moved out of the district more than a month ago, will run to keep her position and fulfill the remaining year of Hechtel’s term.

In Clinton, five people will compete for three at-large seats.

In addition to incumbent Wendy Krajnovich, those seeking office are Thea Engelson, Dick McLane and Betty Hibler. Current board members James Bruhn and Bruce Ingham did not file papers to seek re-election. Ingham also is the Democratic candidate for Clinton County Attorney in the November election.

Central Community School Board president Dona Bark will run against John McDonnell for the two years remaining on the term of Larry Burken, who recently announced he will resign from the board because he is moving to the Waterloo area. There will be two candidates for two at-large seats on the board — incumbent Kurt Rickard and Bill Turnis.

In the Camanche School District, incumbents Michael Dunn and Pam Baretich will seek new terms.

In the Delwood School District, District 4 director Jody Holtz is running unopposed.

The Calamus-Wheatland race will feature District 1 incumbent Jan Muhl running unopposed and Kari Jones and Shelley Weiss running for an at-large seat.

Incumbents Mary Smith and Mark Neblung will run unopposed in the Northeast Community School District.

Sheena Dooley can be contacted at (563) 383-2363 or sdooley@qctimes.com.

Steven Martens can be contacted at (563) 659-2595 or smartens@qctimes.com.