Despite potential conflicts, Silvernale is the best choice for District 1

Voters in the Broward School Board District 1 race have four choices, but one candidate has the most potential to improve schools.

Incumbent Ann Murray has the benefit of experience. She’s been on the board for 10 years, but she is not as engaged or providing the kind of advocacy she once did.

Veronica Newmeyer, 49, has been a dedicated volunteer in the district for 18 years, serving on advisory boards and parent organizations. She knows a lot about how the district works and doesn’t work. But she’s failed to put together the kind of campaign needed to win.

Natalia Garceau, 39, is a district school teacher on leave. She returned the Sun Sentinel’s endorsement questionnaire, but failed to attend the interview with the other candidates.

Jim Silvernale, 57, works for the Federation of Public Employees and represents the school district’s non-instructional employees. His position is fraught with potential conflicts of interest, but also gives him insights into how to make things work better.

Voters in District 1 should elect Silvernale. He has a good understanding of the district, including the issues the employees face. He has relationships that will help him be an effective board member. And he has a pleasant demeanor — informed, yet non-confrontational.

That said, if he is elected and wants to keep his job with the union, Silvernale and his bosses will have to create a position for him that eliminates even the of a conflict. He must build a firewall between his union work and School Board role that passes the public’s smell test.

If he wins and other male candidates lose on Aug. 28, Silvernale would be the only man on the nine-member board.

He is the better choice in District 1 because Murray, 75, no longer has the drive needed to serve on the board, her critics and others say.

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

Newmeyer said much the same thing. “With Ms. Murray you know what you are getting. She’s withdrawn. She’s not a fulltime School Board member.”

Murray initially failed to return her questionnaire or respond to phone calls and emails about the interview. After the newspaper met with Newmeyer and Silvernale, Murray contacted the paper seeking an interview, which the Sentinel granted.

Murray said she failed to respond promptly because she’d been having problems with her computer.

In the interview, Murray acknowledged that she has not been as engaged in School Board business as she would like. She said she had to help her son, who has had health and financial problems. She said those problems have been resolved and she’s eager to give her full attention to district business again.

Murray was engaged during the interview. A 30-year employee of the school district in the transportation department, she knows the district’s strengths and weaknesses. In her questionnaire, she listed a litany of accomplishments in recent years including a rising enrollment, higher test scores, lower administrative spending, national recognition for the district’s debate and PROMISE programs, and more.

She also is a staunch defender of Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie. “Mr. Runcie should continue to lead our district,” she said. Broward County has the sixth largest school district in the nation. If the board wants to replace him, “we would have to look for a replacement in a very limited pool of applicants.”

Murray barely won re-election in 2014. She defeated her opponent by only 291 votes in a race where 14,443 ballots were cast.

In Silvernale, she’s facing an opponent who has organized a campaign with lots of money (about $40,000 compared to Murray’s $26,000) and endorsements (Broward Teachers Union, Broward Principals & Assistant Principals Association, the police and fire unions, and more).

Newmeyer acknowledges that she has not mounted much of a campaign. She’s raised only about $4,000. “I don’t care about money,” she said. “I will win by reputation and what I have done in the past.” Newmeyer is an appealing candidate who has her finger on the pulse of what students, parents, teachers and staff are saying. But candidates are judged by the campaign they put together, and on that measure, she comes up short.

Silvernale said the district is a cumbersome organization that is not as efficient as it needs to be. But he supports Runcie. He likes that Runcie, who is president of the Florida Superintendents Association, is pushing the association’s lawsuit that challenges the use of taxpayer money for construction projects at charter schools.

District 1 includes Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Dania Beach. Dear Readers: If you have an absentee ballot for the Aug. 28 primary, we encourage you not to rush to fill it out. We are publishing our recommendations daily and expect to be done by Aug. 12. Before offering our endorsements, we research and interview the candidates, speak to people who know them and consider their responses to our questionnaire. We consider it a public service to vet the candidates and offer