Candidates discuss board, community relations
By Marcus Clem
A candidate forum held Monday by a St. Joseph teacher group featured eight people, out of 10 invited, though one did not attend for a good reason: He will withdraw from the race.
Warren Ingram III, Tami Pasley, LaTonya Williams, Kenneth Reeder, Jacob McMillian, Sean Connors, Ronda Chesney and Mike Moore conferred for the Missouri State Teachers Association forum on the contenders for three St. Joseph Board of Education seats. Not in attendance were Steven Carrillo and Kim Dragoo, who to date have not attended an organized candidate forum. Carrillo announced afterward his intentions to end his candidacy ahead of elections April 2.
“After weeks of talks, the opportunity to partner with a high profile client is happening,” said Carrillo, who works in several areas of marketing and commerce. “I’m excited for the expansion of my business and the personalities I will be collaborating with. Because of the time commitment, combined with international travel, I will be withdrawing as a candidate for the SJSD school board … While I view it as a once in a lifetime opportunity, it’s also the right move for me professionally and for my family.”
On Tuesday, Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey said that because absentee voting has been underway for two weeks, it is not possible to remove Carrillo’s name from any ballots, and any votes for Carrillo will be counted.
“Whatever votes he gets, he gets,” she said. “He needs to be responsible for getting the word out that he does not want to be a candidate and doesn’t want the votes.”
At Monday’s forum, much of the conversation focused on improving community trust in the district. The MSTA did not record or livestream the event, as its primary purpose was to help MSTA members understand the positions of each candidate. The event was otherwise free and open to the public. Several dozen teachers attended, as well as retired educators like David Jordan. Following his last day at Central High School in 2017, Jordan ran for the board in 2021.
“The school board is very important to the community, and it’s always been a difficult process to go through when you are running for the school board,” Jordan said. “I think some of the comments that the individuals brought up this evening about how to engage the community, how to continue to engage with our teachers and with our administration, I think was a very important part of the discussion this evening.”
Candidates tended to agree that a better effort will be needed to help the board operate in a productive way. Several recent instances of shouting and talking over one another have occurred in recent months. Some disagreement occurred Monday over the reasons why the board has come to the state in which it is broadly perceived to be.
During the forum, Pasley referenced how the financial scandals that came to a head in 2014 continue to foment distrust in the school district. Pasley has previously served two school board terms, having won elections in 2016 and 2019.
“The school district should be the center of our community, and right now we don’t have community support for our school district,” she said. “Raise your hand if you’re really tired of hearing about what happened 10 years ago … Thank you for those who raised their hands; I’m tired of hearing it, too, and I was hearing it when I was on the board in 2016 … We have got to, as a board, sit down and strategize how to bury that dead horse once and for all.”
Reeder begged to differ, saying board members must meet critics halfway, to find a way forward.
“Those who want to forget the past, it might be because they were part of it,” Reeder said. “It hasn’t been that long, really. If you had a second grader at the time, they’re just now a sophomore. So people haven’t forgotten, and we have to understand that.”
