Manatee County School Board awaits appointment for District 5

The Manatee County School Board is waiting for Gov. Rick Scott to fill the District 5 seat that’s empty following the July 12 death of board member Mary Cantrell.

Florida statutes say the governor must appoint the new member. So far, 22 individuals have applied for the position.

Applicants include former School Board member Julie Aranibar, whom Cantrell unseated in the 2014 election; State Board of Education member John Colon; former District 3 Board Member Larry Simmons; and Misty Martin Servia, who has also filed papers to challenge current District 3 representative Dave Miner for his seat in November. (See sidebar for a full list of applicants.)

Whoever receives the position will be up for re-election in 2016, said Stephen Lawson, spokesperson of Scott's office.

Officials are tight-lipped on when a new member will assume the seat on the school board.

There’s no timetable available, yet, for when we'll have someone in place," Lawson said. "That decision is yet to be determined."

But Board Member Charlie Kennedy hopes to have a member in place by the board's July 28 meeting.

School boards benefit from having an odd number of members, because a majority vote is required to pass an action item. Until the fifth member joins the school board, if an issue receives a 2-2 vote, that means the motion doesn't pass, Kennedy explained.

Board Chairman Bob Gause doesn't see an immediate problem with only having four members. The board has met with as few as its minimum of three members and still had a successful meeting, he said.

Board members hope to have their newest colleague updated on issues and ready to actively participate in meetings as soon as possible.

"The difficulty now is that a new member will be appointed and sworn in," Gause said. "That person will have missed discussions on issues that they will then be required to vote on, such as budgets, policies and contract negotiations. We'll need to bring that person up to speed quickly."

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].