School board member Jesse Lippold Peone at a spring 2019 meeting of the Salem-Keizer budget committee (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
The Salem-Keizer School Board will meet Monday to consider a plan to change how board members are elected.
The board was scheduled to consider the proposal from board Director Jesse Lippold Peone during its March 9 meeting, but a technical glitch stopped the meeting from broadcasting live on YouTube and CC Media midway through.
If adopted, the proposal would change board elections to a zoned system where voters living in each of the seven zones in the school district elect their own representative to the board. Currently, board members must live in the zone they represent, but all board positions are elected by voters from the entire district.
Lippold Peone, who is running for reelection in May, said he would like the change to take effect before that election and believes it will lead to less expensive campaigns and reduce barriers for candidates. Four board seats are up for election this year.
Other board members have said they support the concept, but want more time to gather public feedback.
Public comments submitted to the board ahead of this week's meeting were split, with a majority supporting moving to the zoned system. Thirty-four people told board members they wanted to make the switch, while 24 objected to the plan as presented. A fair number of those objections, however, centered on the timing of the proposal or the lack of public input to date, rather than the change itself.
To participate: The meeting is at 6 p.m. Monday, March 15. It will be live streamed on YouTube at the links below and on CC Media, channel 21. Additional public comment will not be accepted because the meeting is a continuation of an earlier meeting.
English: https://youtu.be/ZjVr8C-phvQ
Spanish: https://youtu.be/f8jyqgY8gd0
-Rachel Alexander