5 candidates may seek seats on TPS board

7/20/2005

Five challengers have announced their intentions to run in the November election for three seats on the Toledo Board of Education.

The race also could be crowded with three incumbents whose terms expire at the end of 2005, but only one has committed to run in the Nov. 8 election.

The Lucas County Board of Elections last week certified incumbent Steven Thomas to appear on the ballot.

The deadline to file with the board of elections is Aug. 25.

Mr. Thomas, 37, is business manager of Laborers International Union of North America Local 500.

He was appointed to the school board in January as a replacement to Anita Lopez, who resigned to take over as Lucas County Recorder.

Incumbents David Welch and Peter Silverman both told The Blade yesterday that they have not decided if they will run again.

"Right now, I am leaning against it," Mr. Silverman said. "There are a number of other things I want to do. I want to write a book [and] get more involved in other organizations, and being on the school board takes a lot of time away from my family."

Mr. Silverman, 49, is a lawyer and two-time city council member who ran unsuccessfully for Toledo mayor. He has been on the board of education since 1997.

Mr. Welch, 44, said yesterday that his decision whether to run is "still up in the air." He is manager of the city of Toledo's division of solid waste, and was elected to the school board in 1997.

The Urban Coalition, a TPS watchdog group, plans to hold a news conference tomorrow to announce that it is supporting three challengers:

w●Darlene Fisher, whose age was not available, is a member of Parents for Public Schools, another district watchdog group, and a founding member of the Urban Coalition.

w●Christopher Myers, 29, of Talbot Street, is a Web master at the University of Michigan.

w●Robert Torres, 42, of Arlington Avenue, is director of Toledo's Office of Latino Affairs.

Also planning to run for the school board are:

w●John G. Rust, 89, of North Byrne Road, a longtime Toledo lawyer.

w●Steven Steel, 42, of Parkwood Avenue, who was a teacher at Waite High School in East Toledo from 1984 to 1997 and is a part-time instructor at Bowling Green State University.

Mr. Steel's wife, Catherine Hernandez, sits on the board of directors for the Toledo Federation of Teachers, the school district's teachers union. Mr. Steel said his wife's position with the union would not be a conflict of interest.

Contact Ignazio Messina at:

imessina@theblade.com

or 419-724-6171.