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Murdock, Bloink, Wright take seats on school board

November 7, 2001

By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

A high return on mail-in ballots brought in an unprecedented number of votes and kept Re-1 school board candidates waiting for the final count that didn’t come until just before 11 last night.

Long-time area resident Leon Murdock swept District D with 1106 votes and will replace outgoing board member Tina Galyon. And by a 19 percent margin, local physician Steven Bloink beat out his opponent, Armando Garcia, for the District F seat vacated by Peggy Blackmer.

Former Cortez Middle School teacher Sherri Wright’s position on the board for District D, which encompasses the Towaoc area, was affirmed with 186 votes. Wright will replace Sue Baacke. She ran unopposed in the district, which is closed, meaning it can be voted on only by those who live within the district boundaries.

A total of 5833 votes was cast in the 2001 school-board election in contrast to approximately 3500 cast at the last election in 1999. It is unclear whether the simplicity of the mail-in ballot brought in the high returns or if current school-board issues prompted voters to voice their opinions, said Montezuma-Cortez School District Superintendent Bill Thompson.

"The mail-ins made it a lot easier," he said.

Thompson said that although he doesn’t know any of the newly elected board members, he was satisfied with the results of the election. "We’ll get them seated and organized at the next board meeting and move along," Thompson said late Tuesday night.

School-board President Steve Hinton did not wish to comment on the outcome of the election, but said he hoped the board would be as diverse and productive as the existing board.

Baacke, Galyon and Blackmer were not term-limited but had decided not to run again. All three outgoing board members have been very active in the schools and will continue to be.

"They’ve brought a lot of good to the board," Hinton said. "We’re losing three good board members."

The newly-elected board members will take their seats at the midway point of the Nov. 13 Re-1 board meeting. The current board will wrap up old business during the first segment of the meeting before the new board members are seated and take the reins for the new business scheduled on the agenda.

Leon Murdock, District B

Leon Murdock is a long-time resident of Montezuma County and is retired from a job with the state.

Now, with free time on his hands, he has decided to dedicate his time to education, whether it is serving on the school board or volunteering in the classroom.

Murdock has three grandchildren in Re-1, spanning from the elementary level to the high school. He is a strong advocate for enforcing attendance policies and also is interested in pushing for a dress code.

The early lack of interest for candidates in the election also spurred Murdock into action and prompted him to run for a seat on the board.

"I kept hearing that they needed people to run but I thought in years past, there’s better people out there than I," he told the Journal last month. "But then I thought, well, I better get of the bench and step up to the plate and get in the game."

Steven Bloink, District F

A local physician and the father of two CMS students, Steven Bloink said he believes it is his civic duty to get involved with the community by running for the Re-1 school board.

Teacher wages are a primary concern of Bloink’s, and he hopes to encourage the board to increase salaries and look at staff recruitment and retention strategies.

Bloink also told the Journal in an interview last month that student motivation is also key to improving the schools. Integrating world issues such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attack into the curriculum could stimulate learning as well as promoting social awareness, Bloink said.

"As sad as it is, children are picking up on what’s happening and I hope teachers are capitalizing on that," he said.

"It’s a good opportunity to build patriotism and encourage awareness as what we do as individuals."

Sherri Wright, District D

As a native of Cortez, Sherri Wright has grown up in the local school district as well as teaching in it. Wright’s positive experiences with the schools has served as motivation for her to continue to be a support for the system.

"I believe we have a great school district," Wright said. "Of course there’s always room for change but I’ll have to wait until I’m on the board to form some of my opinions (on issues)."

• Finishing behind Murdock in District B was Marci Schuster, 846 votes; Kip Kautz, 415 votes; Helen Cumpton, 358 votes; and write in candidate Remigio Candelaria, 32 votes.

• Garcia came up 536 votes short of Bloink’s 1704 for the District F seat.

This year’s school-board election attracted little interest from candidates initially, but then became one of the better-contested races in recent Re-1 history.