Two newcomers file for school board

The list of candidates vying for a seat on Mooresville’s town and school boards is growing longer.

As of noon on Tuesday, seven candidates had thrown their hats into the ring to compete for four seats on the Mooresville Board of Commissioners and three seats on the Mooresville Graded School District Board of Education.

The four town board incumbents who are up for reelection this year have all filed: Mitch Abraham has filed for the Ward 1 seat, Thurman Houston has filed for the Ward 2 seat, Danny Beaver has filed for the at-large seat, and Bill Thunberg has filed for mayor.

The mayoral position is a two-year term. All commissioner terms are for four years. If a primary is necessary for this non-partisan race, it will take place on Oct. 9.
Two of the three candidates who have filed for the MGSD, however, are relative newcomers: Marc McCulloh, a Davidson professor, and Eddie Karriker, who works in counseling at Mooresville High School, have both joined incumbent Larry Wilson on this fall’s ballot.

Board of Education terms are for four years and do not require a primary. Those who choose to run for seats will join candidates on the municipal ballot on Nov. 6.

The district’s two other incumbents up for election this year, Sue Wilson and Barbara Johnson, have not yet filed. Johnson told the Tribune last week that she does not intend to run for re-election. Wilson could not be reached for comment.

McCulloh, a German and Russian professor at Davidson, said that he’s looking forward to returning to the race, and hopes that he’ll be chosen to be a part of what is fast becoming a progressive board.

“I think we’ve got really good new leadership,” he said, citing new principal at the high school, Dr. Mark Rendell, and the “decisive moves” of the new superintendent, Dr. Mark Edwards as examples.
“I’d like to be part of what looks to me to be a bright future,” he said.

McCulloh ran in the 2005 school board election, but did not win a seat. That defeat, he said, hasn’t deterred him from his goal of gaining a seat on the board, because he believes he has the qualifications and experience that will make him an asset.

In addition to serving in higher education for 25 years, McCulloh said he’s gained additional insight into the MGSD, courtesy of his wife, Audrey, a teacher at Mooresville High School, and his two sons, one of whom just graduated from the high school, and the other who is still a student there.

Part of the reason for running, said McCulloh, is to give back to the system that has given him and his family so much.

“We chose to live here in part because of the school system,” he said.

Karriker is himself a newcomer to the elections process, but not at all to the district. He has worked at the high school as a substitute and now currently works in its counseling department. He also attended school in the MGSD and graduated from the high school.

“I’m a byproduct of the MGSD,” he said.

Part of his reason for running now, said Karriker, is because of the district’s mission statement: Equipping students for success in a rapidly changing world.
“Being inside the system, that is what we’ve got to do, because it’s getting harder and harder for our children coming out, getting ready for the world,” he said. “We have a lot of students who don’t have a lot of help and a lot of support.”

Karriker said that, if he is elected to the board, he will resign from his current position within the MGSD. According to state law, employees of a district must resign if elected to serve on that district’s school board.

“I’m okay with that,” he said. “I want to give back to this system what was given to me.”

Candidates who wish to be placed on the ballot for one of the area’s municipal elections must file their application, in person, at the Iredell County Board of Elections office at 203 Stockton Street in Statesville by noon on Friday, July 20. The cost is $10 to file for the MGSD and $5 to file for the Mooresville town board. For more information on this year’s elections, contact the Iredell County Board of Elections at 704-878-3140.

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Posted on 07/11/07 at 08:34 AM
Mooresville •Mayor •Mooresville Graded School District •Town Council •At Large • (0) Comments

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