The question of whether politics will taint the Española School Board’s hiring of a new superintendent took center stage at the third and last of three community hearings on the superintendent hiring process Jan. 14.
A recurring theme during the hearing is a hiring committee the Board has proposed creating. Though Board members have yet to decide what role the committee would play in the hiring process, the question on the audience’s mind was whom Board members would appoint to the committee.
The hearing followed two others in November and December, and was intended to give the community — parents, teachers and others — “an opportunity to help in this selection process,” Board President Joe Romero wrote in a November letter encouraging people to attend the hearings and fill out a survey specifying what characteristics the person who replaces Superintendent David Cockerham should have.
Cockerham’s contract with the District expires June 30.
Jeremiah Harlan, the father of two Chimayó Elementary students and one of the only two attendees at the November hearing, voiced his doubts at the latest meeting that the hiring process would remain politics-free. Harlan was concerned about the Board’s plan that each Board member will appoint one or two people to a superintendent hiring committee. The Board has not yet established what role the committee would play in the hiring process, but Board members have said it would likely review applications or interview candidates.
“I want to make sure the process is open, not political,” Harlan told the Board. “I don’t want to offend anybody here, but from what I’ve read in the paper, that hasn’t always been the case. That’s why I cringed when I heard the Board would appoint the committee members.”
Romero cut Harlan off to assure him politics would not factor into the process despite a recurrent rumor that the leading candidate for the job is County Democratic Party Chairwoman and former principal Theresa Martinez.
“Right, but if the system’s set up how you said, with each of you choosing one or two political appointees to choose the person, it doesn’t seem that way,” Harlan rejoindered. “I want to have teachers, principals, parents involved in the process.”
Board candidate Joe “Coco” Archuleta is not yet a Board member — though he is running unopposed in the Feb. 3 elections and is set to coast into Romero’s current seat. But a month and a half away from becoming a Board member, Archuleta has already promised a spot on the hiring committee to one of his campaign co-chairmen, onetime probate judge Marlo Martinez, an Española businessman who also ran for the magistrate court in 2006.
“As a co-chairman for Mr. Archuleta, he’s asked me to become more involved in the superintendent search, and he asked me to attend this Board meeting,” Martinez said at the community hearing.
Archuleta confirmed that if the Board selects a hiring committee, he wants Martinez on there.
“Marlo’s a businessman,” Archuleta said. “He has a vested interest in who gets hired. If the schools don’t work, he don’t get business.”
But Archuleta said instead of a committee, he might prefer the Board go with a system similar to what the Pojoaque School Board did when it hired a superintendent. That Board conducted several rounds of interviews itself, but allowed the public to attend and submit written questions, Archuleta said.
Other Board members said they have not yet decided whom they would appoint to the committee.
“I’ve been approached by people, but there’s things we need to work out before I go out an recruit someone,” Board member Leonard Valerio said. Valerio said he “definitely” wants to see union representatives, bus drivers and local businesspeople in the mix. He offered a few possible candidates: bus contractors JD Martinez and Phil Gallegos, District employee union president Brian Every and Paul Lujan, one of Valerio’s opponents in the 2007 Board election.
Vice President Floyd Archuleta said he has not settled on any candidates, but said he would prefer to “keep the group small.” Board member Andrew Chavez said he has “one individual” in mind for the committee, but declined to say who because he has not yet asked that person to participate.
Board Secretary Joann Salazar emphasized that, aside from each Board member’s one or two appointees, who would stick up for the concerns of their Board member’s voting district, the committee would also include teachers, principals, union members and “maybe someone from the business community.”
“It’s not just going to be our appointees,” Salazar said. “We still need to flesh out what it’s going to look like.”
The Board plans to discuss the hiring process and hiring committee at a public meeting Wednesday (1/21) 5:30 p.m. in the Española Middle School auditorium.