BURKEonBOARD

(Sept. 17, 2008) – Ever since the candidate filing deadline a week ago Tuesday, folks around Farmington have been trying to figure out why Terry Donnelly, already a sitting member of the Farmington School Board, would file to run for the Farmington City Council.

I have to say that I was perplexed until I talked to a few friends (no, really, I have friends) who shared their ideas with me. Here’s what they think and it all goes back to the school board.

First, understand that Donnelly is in the middle of a four year term on the school board. If he loses the council race in November, he’d still be a member of the school board. But if he won a council seat (not a lead pipe cinch as his charter membership in the Meeks’ Five will not endear him to many voters) Donnelly would automatically be resigned from his school board seat.

That brings my friends, the conspiracy theorists, to school board chair Julie McKnight. They think it’s unlikely McKnight will keep her board seat come the November election. She finished a distant third in the primary and was nearly edged out by Veronica Walter, a political newcomer and virtual unknown. All signs point to a clean sweep of the three board seats up in November by upstarts who threaten to upset the Meeks’ Five axis on the board.

But a Donnelly council win and board resignation would leave that board seat to be filled by appointment of the school board. The theory goes that the Donnelly seat would go to the defeated J. McKnight, appointed by the remainder of the Meeks’ Five after the election but before the New Year when new board members would be seated.

So the Donnelly departure from board to the council would neither strengthen nor weaken the Meeks’ contingent on the board, but it would give Meeks’ a boy on the city council to go along with his city hall ally, city administrator Peter Herlofsky, and either Dave McKnight (Julie McKnight’s brother-in-law) or temporary Oklahoman (and incumbent mayor) Kevan Soderberg if either were to win the mayor’s contest.

All bets would be off, though, for city hall as a Meeks’ safe zone if Todd Larson were elected mayor. He’s comes with a backbone pre-installed. If Soderberg were to win…well…no need to waste space on that possibility.

But if the worst were to happen and Donnelly were to win a city council seat and D. McKnight the mayor’s office, well then, Katie bar the door, as the old folks like to say.

That would open back channels between the Meeks/J. McKnight school district and the Donnelly/D. McKnight/Herlofsky city hall that would make the current shenanigans between the district and city look like child’s play. Things will happen and quiet little deals struck that will never see the light of day until after the deals are done.

That’s what my friends think, at least.