Traverse City Record-Eagle

Election 2009

August 12, 2009

Seven to vie for three school board seats

Incumbents Brooke, Appel among hopefuls

BY LINDSAY VANHULLE

TRAVERSE CITY -- Two incumbents and five other community members will seek three Traverse City school board seats this fall.

Board member Suzann Brooke is seeking her second term on the seven-member board. Other candidates for two available four-year terms include Julie Davis, Kelly Hall, Mary U. Manner and Julie Puckett. Board member Dave Barr will not seek re-election.

Board member Gary Appel is running for a partial term, to end in 2012. He was appointed in January to fill the post left vacant when member-elect Amy Sutherland resigned. Appel will be challenged by Traverse City resident Diane Viskochil.

The deadline to file for the Nov. 3 election was Tuesday.

Brooke, a former teacher, said her experience in the classroom and in the board room gives her a unique perspective when making decisions.

"I have come to understand the complexity of the district," said Brooke, 70, who first was elected in 2005. "I feel as though it's a job I can't leave in the middle."

Puckett, 40, has been an adjunct math instructor at Northwestern Michigan College since 2001. She was the runner-up in January for Sutherland's seat.

"When you lose students and your state funding doesn't come up, you have to cut," Puckett said. "How can we impact our students the least?"

Manner, 57, is a past president of the Traverse City Music Boosters and worked as education director at the Great Lakes Children's Museum. She said the district faces a "watershed moment."

"We have a lot of challenges, and a lot of opportunity," she said. "We should be looking at what it is we want to do and then figure out how to make it happen."

Hall, 41, has worked as a corporate attorney and has five children in TCAPS schools.

"I'm a parent with a vested interest in the success of our district," Hall said. "I want to use my energies to try to make it the best it can be in the poor economy."

Davis could not be reached for comment.

Appel, 58, said he wants to continue to maintain quality instruction so TCAPS can compete with the plethora of school options that parents have.

"I'm looking to try to equitably distribute the pain," he said. "We're not going to find an easy way out."

Viskochil, 65, is a retired teacher who spent 24 years with TCAPS. She said her background, plus her experience on the Traverse Area District Library board, will set her apart.

"I know this district," she said. "It's kind of a crucial time."

Barr, 43, was elected in 2005. He said he wants to devote more time to his family and to efforts to close the state's school funding gap.

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