Many Familiar Faces on School Board

In Election, Catoctin Seat Is Only One to Fall to Challenger

By Michael Alison Chandler (Contact)

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Unlike the sea change on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday's election brought only ripples of change to the School Board. Three candidates ran unopposed, and five incumbents prevailed over opponents.

The only successful challenger was Jennifer K. Bergel, a western Loudoun native and teacher who defeated Mark J. Nuzzaco in the Catoctin District, winning 58 percent of the vote. Bergel's support came largely from her home of Lovettsville, where she won three-quarters of the votes. She has become well-known recently as a citizen activist pushing to bring a high school to the town.

"As someone who has been in the community for so long, I had parents and teachers and friends and people who have known me since I was a kid all helping me and rooting for me," she said.

While the composition of the nonpartisan School Board will remain relatively stable, the new makeup of the Board of Supervisors may have a significant effect on schools. School Board members shape policy and budget recommendations, but supervisors hold the purse strings.

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Democratic Election Party

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Susan Klimek Buckley (D), who is running for Sugarland Run Supervisor, watches a television for election night results at a post-election party at O'Faolains Irish Restaurant and Pub in Sterling. (Ricky Carioti)

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Democratic supporters stare at a television for election night results at a post-election party at O'Faolains Irish Restaurant and Pub in Sterling. (Ricky Carioti)

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Democratic supporters stare at a television for election night results at a post-election party at O'Faolains Irish Restaurant and Pub in Sterling. (Ricky Carioti)

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Democratic supporter Peggy Luther of Sterling stares at a television for election night results at a post-election party at O'Faolains Irish Restaurant and Pub in Sterling. (Ricky Carioti)

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Tom Simmons of Waterford talks with Andrea McGimsey (D), who won the race for Potomac Supervisor, at a post-election party at O'Faolains Irish Restaurant and Pub in Sterling. (Ricky Carioti)

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Michael George (D), center, who lost his bid for sheriff to incumbent Steve Simpson, chats with supporters as he waits for election results at a post-election party at O'Faolains Irish Restaurant and Pub in Sterling. (Ricky Carioti)

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Del. David Poisson (D) waits for election night results with his wife, Laura, at a post-election party at O'Faolains Irish Restaurant and Pub in Sterling. (Ricky Carioti)

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Andrea McGimsey (D), left, who won the race for Potomac Supervisor, stands with her fiance, Douglas Greenwood, and Susan Klimek Buckley (D), who won the race for Sugarland Run Supervisor, as the candidates wait for election night results at a post-election party at O'Faolains Irish Restaurant and Pub in Sterling. (Ricky Carioti)

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Four newly elected supervisors who ran on a slow-growth platform say they aim to play catch-up with spending on basic services after years of breakneck development.

"We want to get the focus back to the existing communities, rather than building new communities that are straining our budget. Schools are the biggest part of that," said Andrea McGimsey (D) at a gathering of county Democrats on election night. McGimsey will replace Bruce E. Tulloch in the Potomac District.

School Board Chairman Robert F. DuPree Jr. said he is looking forward to working with the new board and hopes the newcomers' stance translates into more funding for education and more help securing land for additional schools. In the last term, the School Board grappled with county supervisors' cuts to its spending requests and ran into roadblocks with plans for an advanced technology academy, DuPree said.

DuPree won reelection in the Dulles District with 56 percent of the vote. His opponent, Kevin J. Turner, ran an aggressive campaign, attending several School Board and community meetings and earning an endorsement from the Democratic Party.

Priscilla B. Godfrey (Blue Ridge) retained her seat with a 59 percent majority in a district where controversy was ignited by the school system's plans to build a high school near Purcellville over the town's objections. Godfrey carried every precinct, winning Purcellville by a 51 percent majority. Her opponent was John R. Feegel.

In the Broad Run District, Bob Ohneiser held on to his seat with 56 percent of the vote despite a spirited write-in campaign by Thomas A. "Tag" Greason. Greason, after being disqualified from the ballot for filing campaign petitions improperly, was endorsed by the county teachers association and the county Republican Party. On Election Day, he said, he had 86 volunteers handing out information outside polling places.

"I'm very humbled to have gotten so many people to support me," Greason said. His first election will not be his last, he said. "Hopefully next time, I'll be on the ballot."

Tom Reed was reelected to the at-large seat, earning 64 percent of the vote in his bid against Herbert L. Bryan. Incumbent Joseph M. Guzman defeated Ryan A. Myers and Stephen E. Hammond, winning 52 percent of the vote in Sugarland Run.

The three candidates without opposition were incumbents John Stevens (Potomac) and J. Warren Geurin (Sterling), and Tom C. Marshall, who is taking over the Leesburg seat vacated by Sarah B. Smith.

Some School Board members saw the lack of turnover as a sign that people are pleased with the direction of the school system.

"My impression is, on the feedback of voters at the polls . . . that we did not see a lot of dissatisfaction with problems we have to work on," DuPree said. He added, "Obviously we still have a lot of work to do. We can't rest on our laurels."

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