Carina Borgia-Drake will leave Ridgefield Board of Education
Carina Borgia-Drake, a Democratic member of the Board of Education, has announced her resignation from the school board.
“It has been an honor to serve the Ridgefield community as a member of the Board of Education,” she wrote in a Sept. 3 letter to Town Clerk Wendy Lionetti. “Please accept this letter as official notice of my resignation for the Board of Education effective September 30, 2020.”
By town charter the vacancy left by Borgia-Drake’s resignation is to be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of the school board. If they don’t act within a month, the duty falls to the Board of Selectmen.
If the member who left the board was elected as a member of a political party, the charter also requires that the vacancy be filled by a member of the same political party. Borgia-Drake was elected as a Democrat.
The Democratic Town Committee, which may make an advisory recommendation to the school board on filling the position, began seeking potential candidates for the vacancy with a Sept. 11 news release.
“The Democratic Town Committee (DTC) requests that any registered Democrat in Ridgefield, who may be interested in filling this seat, send a statement of interest as well as a resume or biography (or equivalent) to recruitment@ridgefielddems.org, by September 26, 2020, so that the DTC Recruiting Subcommittee may interview potential candidates and the DTC can send an endorsement to the BOE for its consideration,” the committee’s release said.
“Interested persons are advised that BOE will conduct its own official selection process for filling the vacancy. The BOE’s process is separate from the DTC’s process. The DTC’s endorsement is advisory to the BOE.”
The DTC also had some words on the resigning school board member.
“Ms. Borgia-Drake was elected to BOE in November 2017, and has served our town and our children with sensitivity and dedication,” the committee said. “Ridgefield Democrats thank Ms. Borgia-Drake for her valuable service and wish her well.”