Mahaska County School Board Elections
Newly Elected Oskaloosa School Board Members left to right - Charlie Comfort, Tom Richardson and Nik Rule
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa School District had just one contested race in this year’s School Board Election. It pitted 17 year veteran Don Patterson against 18 year old Charlie Comfort for Director District 4. Others running this year, but unopposed, were Nik Rule for Director District 1, Laurie Palmer for Director District 3 and Tom Richardson running for Director District 6.
I spoke with Oskaloosa School Board Member Elect Charlie Comfort about his recent run for office.
What are your thoughts on Tuesday’s election?
“I am very pleased with the results. I had been nervous all day long but was remaining cautiously optimistic. So when I saw that turnout was relatively high, I was just ecstatic. When they announced the results, I was very happy. I am truly honored that the voters have given me a chance to serve on this school board. I have a whole lot of people to thank. First of all, I need to thank my Campaign Manager Ken Allsup. Ken put a lot of his own time and effort into this and I am very grateful for his help. I need to thank my brother Mike for being my Campaign Treasurer. He was a big help starting out too. Of course I can’t even begin to say how thankful I am for those who voted for me and donated to my campaign. Whether or not you supported me, I think it’s time that we all come together and work towards a greater school system”
Charlie Comfort stands in the Mahaska County Auditor's office shortly after the results were announced Tuesday evening
When did you consider your run for school board?
“I first started considering a run back in February of this year. Originally, I had planned on running for City Council but after some discussions with parents, faculty, and other people I know well, I decided that I would be a better candidate for school board. I had been planning a run since March and we started campaigning the day I filed my nomination papers, which was July 11th”
What are you going to be doing now that you have won?
“Well first off, I am going to take a break. I am completely drained but now that I have won, I believe we can start to get the lines of communication open. I would like to get to know the newly elected board members, and the current board members a bit more too. I am guessing that I probably won’t be able to do the things I campaigned on right away as I will need to wait until I am sworn in, but I think we can still work to get good, positive communication going here in the next couple of weeks before board reorganization.”
When will you start your new position?
“I, and the other newly elected members, will be sworn in at the October 11th School Board meeting.”
Were your parents supportive of your efforts?
“My mom and dad have been very supportive of the campaign from day one. I kept them in the loop of things that were going on. My mom was a very big help, especially early on. We spent an evening folding fundraising letters, stuffing envelopes, and putting labels and postage on them. When I was in classes this past week, mom also put postage on some envelopes, and she also made phone calls for me throughout the campaign. Dad talked to a lot of his personal contacts and was able to drum up some support there. I am very grateful for the help of my parents in this campaign.”
The day of the election started early for Charlie as he visited with those out having breakfast at Hy-Vee
What support did you have? You certainly did seem to have lots of advertising for your campaign.
“We had enough financial support so that we could do enough advertising that we felt was suitable for this election. Advertising was a big thing and I think we made an impact based on all the advertisements we had.”
Also on the ballot for the Fremont School District was if to merge with the Eddyville-Blakesburg School District. Their vote locally in Fremont gave the merger a 91-60 advantage. Final results will be available when the totals from the Eddyville-Blakesburg district are made available.
North Mahaska Schools had 3 Director Districts up for grabs and a vote on an Instructional Support Levy.
Director District 1 for the North Mahaska Schools had Michael Fisher facing off against Sherill Strobel. Strobel came out on top with a vote of 27-12.
Director District 2 and 3 were both unopposed and saw Dirk Wilkin being voted in with 33 votes for District 2, and Christina Layman for District 3 garnering 10 votes.
The Instruction Support Levy or Public Measure “C” as it appeared on the ballot failed with a vote of 58 in favor and 100 opposed to the new levy.
