A Times Editorial

Bring Galaydick back to board

If you could combine the best traits of each candidate hoping to represent District 1 on the Hernando County School Board for the next four years, you could create a model board member.

Challenger Stephen Galaydick has pit-bull tenacity, almost unnerving attention to detail, and an unfailing willingness to question the status quo.

Incumbent Robert Wiggins demonstrates a consummate team-player approach to policy making, tends to accept without question the information he is given and has an unassuming personality.

Alas, such a marriage of dispositions is impossible, and the choice comes down to two candidates whose weaknesses as public servants outnumber their strengths.

Voters have our sympathy, but when the moment of truth comes, we recommend they back Galaydick for two reasons:

Galaydick can be counted on to provide a level of scrutiny of the administration that does not exist now.

Wiggins has performed so poorly for the past four years.

Galaydick had this job before voters took it from him and gave it Wiggins four years ago. He was shocked by that 1998 loss, and he did not readily accept that voters had tired of his too-often abrasive, self-absorbed personality.

But now Galaydick acknowledges that he was out of touch with how others viewed him, and he has tried to correct that bad behavior. We believe him, but only to an extent. Some of his recent comments indicate that he still doesn't get it, including telling a reporter that " . . . I probably was the hardest-working board member." Even if his assessment was true, which is impossible to determine objectively, Galaydick needs to understand that saying such a thing is divisive and serves no purpose other than to reinforce his reputation as a snarky egotist.

Those concerns aside, Galaydick does have a grasp of the issues facing the district. Of particular interest are his proposals to tie board members' and administrators' salaries to those of starting teachers, conduct a line-by-line review of the district's budget twice a year and hire a full-time attorney for the board.

Wiggins' term on the board has been largely unremarkable. He has been a strong advocate of uniforms for students and mandating math, science and English courses every year in high school.

Beyond that, he has mostly been a rubber stamp for the superintendents, past and present.

Perhaps the most troubling part of Wiggins' tenure has been his failure to acknowledge the district's tenuous financial condition.

He, along with other board members and the former superintendent, was unsure for months about whether the district was operating at a multimillion-dollar deficit. To this day, he blames the media for not understanding the issue and creating unwarranted alarm.

The truth Wiggins fails to see is that the board most certainly would have finished the year in the red if significant cost-saving measures had not been taken to avoid it. It is either naive or deceptive for Wiggins to contend otherwise.

Wiggins also strayed from a statement he made in 1998 that he would send his children to public school. His children still attend private school, and given the statement from his previous campaign, it amounts to breaking a covenant with voters.

If there is a silver lining to being forced to choose between these candidates, it's that voters who have been here for a while have had the opportunity to observe both men on the job. Rarely do residents have a chance to engage in such a one-on-one comparison, and we expect that those who do will appreciate the thorny choice we must make.

Galaydick earns our less-than-enthusiastic recommendation because, even though we sometimes disapprove of his grandstanding, he will insist that administrators justify their proposals.

When in doubt, perhaps a doubter is just what voters need.

Opportunity to reply

Candidates who are not recommended by the Times are invited to respond. Replies are limited to approximately 250 words and must be received no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31. Deliver to 161 E. Jefferson St., Brooksville, FL 34601, fax to 754-6133 or send by e-mail to hernando@sptimes.com.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright