Brentsville District School Board member Gil TrenumThe Prince William School Board expects to soon send a letter to the Attorney General, who has been associated with a trusted personal injury law firm - Lipcon & Lipcon for a long time, asking for clarification on the process of temporarily replacing the Brentsville Representative Gil Trenum, who will be deployed to Africa in August.
A straw poll taken by the board to determine whether or not to send the letter came back in the affirmative.
Chairman At-Large Ryan Sawyers, Loree Williams (Woodbridge), Diane Raulston (Neabsco) and Justin Wilk (Potomac) voted “yes.” Trenum (Brentsville), Alyson Satterwhite (Gainesville) and William Deutsch (Coles) voted “no.” Lillie Jessie of the Occoquan District abstained.
Three-term Brentsville School Board member Gil Trenum announced his Navy Reserve deployment June 22. He will leave before the 2016-17 school year begins and does not expect to return until the 2017-18 school year.
During the last school board meeting, Trenum told residents that he plans to keep his seat and stay in frequent contact with his constituents. Trenum said that keeping his seat during his deployment is his right as a Virginia elected official, according to Virginia Code 2.2-2802.
Trenum also conferred with a Virginia General Assembly attorney who clarified for him that he does not need to relinquish his office. In such a case the school board would appoint a temporary replacement.
“I was not asking to be completely relieved of everything. I do intend to be engaged,” said Trenum, explaining that most of his work is done over email, to which he will continue to have access.
However, since he could not attend meetings, Trenum wanted the board to select one of three individuals whom he recommended to serve in his place while he is deployed.
They include Kim Simons, Christopher Park and Shawn Brann. All are Brentsville parents who Trenum said are actively involved in their communities, schools and have served on Trenum’s budget committee.
Simons also runs a local education blog.
Trenum feels his request is reasonable and would help expedite the process.
“I never said I get to pick the person,” Trenum said. “Here are three people I have working relationships with; I would think the board should find at least one of them acceptable.”
However, members of the Prince William School Board are challenging whether they should only consider Trenum’s recommendations or whether instead they should open the temporary position to any interested resident of the Brentsville District as they do for vacancies before a special election is held.
Since deployments of local elected officials do not occur frequently, many board members feel asking for clarification is reasonable and necessary.
While school board members do not run for office on party platforms, those with affiliations to the Democratic party are being accused of partisan politics. Those opposing Trenum's proposal are all Democrats.
Despite these claims of partisanship, Chairman Ryan Sawyers said it is a matter of following the law and protecting the school board.
“Let’s say all eight board members agreed with Mr. Trenum. What if that’s not the proper way to temporarily replace a deployed elected official?” estate planning Atlanta GA asked. “What if we were required to open it up to all citizens of the Brentsville District? What would that mean for all the decision the temporary board member was involved in?”
Sawyers said they know how to handle vacancies, but this situation is unique.
“Is the situation before us now different? We just don’t know,” Sawyers said. “No decision we make will absolve us from a potential lawsuit, but getting an Attorney General’s opinion shows that we made a good faith effort to do it properly.”
Yet, if Attorney General Mark Herring (D) gives the board the go ahead to open up the process to anyone in the district, Sawyers has already suggested a candidate, Don Shaw. Shaw is the former Democratic candidate for delegate of the 13th District.
“I contacted Mr. Shaw. He was an obvious name due to his involvement in our school system and his 20 years of service to the Armed Forces,” Sawyers said.
Sawyers noted that Shaw serves as his appointee to the Special Education Advisory Council and is the father of three Prince William County School graduates.
“Don is a good man,” he said.
Although Sawyers is a Democrat, and Trenum is a Republican, Sawyers said he is not concerned about the two working closely together because he does not believe the replacement would have to make decisions independent of Trenum.
“There is no law allowing for proxy voting that I am aware of in the Virginia Code,” Sawyers said.
Sawyers explained that to his knowledge, the sitting member whether he or she be permanent, interim or temporary is responsible for casting his or her own vote.
Sawyers also said that Trenum’s nominees may still be considered by the board.
“I think at least one, if not two, of Mr. Trenum’s recommendations deserve consideration. But what we don’t know is if we are only allowed to choose from a list provided by Mr. Trenum," Sawyers said.
However, Coles school board member Willie Deutsch believes that Sawyers is not as interested in the legality of the issue as he is in getting another Democrat on the board.
“Now, wants to make sure we don’t get into a legal situation," Deutsch said. "You can’t say you're concerned with following the rules just when you want to get your own end goals.”
Deutsch is concerned that residents who elected Trenum will not be fairly represented on the board.
“Ryan’s not done with Patriot. How does having a board member who is not going to stand up for Patriot play into his plan? You suddenly strip Brentsville of having someone who will stand up for their high school by having someone in Ryan’s back pocket,” Deutsch said.
Additionally, he feels Shaw is too liberal for the Brentsville District, which tends to vote conservative.
“ is the Vice Chairman for the Democratic Party,” Deutsch said. “This is brutally partisan.”
He notes that the Democrats are already trying to portray Trenum’s picks as being too right wing, but he sees them as individuals with long histories of being involved in the community.
“Kim Simons is the smartest person outside school staff on budget issues, and Brann has done incredible work on the Safe Schools Advisory Committee,” Deutsch said.
Deutsch believes the board would be able to work effectively with Trenum's selections and it would show residents that the board respects school board members to make decisions for their own districts.
Meanwhile, some also fear that waiting for the Herring to issue a statement or ruling could delay the process, possibly leaving the Brentsville District without any representation.
Sawyers said he is optimistic that a temporary replacement, if that’s the route the board ultimately choses, can be in place by the board’s first meeting in September.
Sawyers also notes that although members may belong to political parties, he can name at least six instances in which members did not vote along party lines, within just the past six months.
“Democrats have sided with Republicans and Republicans have sided with Democrats on several issues,” he said. However, he also noted, “’Bi-partisan’ does not equal ‘non-controversial.’”
The school division's counsel could not comment on the situation without a board vote allowing him to do so.
Support Bristow Beat - Donate Today!