Silvernale better choice for school board

The Broward County School Board elections were the talk of the August primary. Two parents of slain students were seeking board seats. Two other candidates had friends killed. And the district was asking for a tax increase to give teachers a pay raise and make schools safer.

The campaigns were heated, sometimes ugly. In the end, one of the parents, won. Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter, Alyssa, was killed at Stoneman Douglas, will fill the seat left vacant by Abby Freedman of Parkland, who decided not to run for re-election.

Three of four incumbents also were re-elected: Donna Korn, Laurie Rich Levinson and Nora Rupert, who all promised to keed a close eye on spending, safety and scholastics.

Voters passed the property tax increase, too. And almost immediately, Superintendent Robert Runcie, who had promised the money wouldn’t be used to boost administrative salaries downtown, asked his board to boost staffing in the public relations department downtown. Wisely, the board held back.

Given this community’s continued concerns about an oversold bond issue that’s overtapped and behind schedule in delivering school renovations, this board needs to keep a closer eye on spending and promises made.

That leaves only one school board race on the Nov. 6 ballot — the runoff for District 1, where incumbent Ann Murray got 36 percent of the vote and her strongest challenger, Jim Silvernale, got 34 percent. The other two candidates got about 15 percent each.

As in the primary, we encourage voters in District 1 — which largely includes Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Dania Beach in Broward’s southeastern corner — to put Silvernale on the board.

Silvernale, 57, is an energetic candidate who understands how the school system works because he shows up to work helping represent thousands of the district’s non-instructional workers in his job with the Federation of Public Employees union.

If elected, Silvernale says he’d be reassigned to another government body to prevent any conflicts of interest.

Silvernale and other critics say that Murray, 75, simply doesn’t work hard enough any more.

“Murray is not active or effective,” Silvernale said in his endorsement questionnaire in August. “She has missed a number of meetings.”

In an endorsement interview before the primary, Murray acknowledged that she has not been as engaged in district business as she would like. She said she had to help her son deal with health and money problems. Those issues have been resolved, she said, and she’s eager to be an active board member again.

Murray has been on the board for 10 years and worked for the school district for 30 years in the transportation department. She brings experience and knowledge, and knows the pros and cons of the schools in District 1.

Murray has fought for her political career before and won. She won reelection in 2014, but defeated her opponent by only 291 votes.

Silvernale said he is optimistic he will win because more voters will go to the polls on Nov. 6. Only 28,225 people voted in the August election.

He said Murray got more votes in August because she’s the incumbent and some voters picked her simply because she has virtually the same name as the once-popular Canadian singer Anne Murray.

If elected, Silvernale said he will start helping the schools first by attending all the meetings.

“If you don’t go to the meetings, the board members from the other districts will speak up and get attention paid to the problems in their districts,” he said.

Silvernale has done his homework. He knows the district, inside and out. He’s got a friendly disposition and regularly shows up at community events. He’s the kind of steady, hands-on leader District 1— and the district as a whole — needs for guidance through rocky times.

Silvernale