Architect Jerry Lecko Appointed to La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board

Needing only minutes to deliberate following nearly two-and-a-half hours of interviews, the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District board appointed Jerry Lecko to fill the vacant seat at an open forum meeting on Tuesday.

Lecko will take over for Penny Halgren, who resigned in January. He will be sworn in at the district’s next board meeting, on Tuesday, March 19.

“I just want to congratulate the other candidates,” he said. “I thought they were well qualified. I was very impressed with their written applications, and to follow that up with actually meeting them tonight and hearing their verbal responses, was just outstanding. It’s great to see that caliber of interest coming from the community to serve on the board.”

Lecko beat out five other candidates for the appointment: Steve Babbitt, Robert Divine II, Ben Motten, Jay Steiger and Mike Stewart. Each of the candidates was well prepared, and drew praise from the board for their answers.

After a surprisingly short deliberation period from the board – only four or five minutes compared to the nearly 150 minutes of interviews – the board voted 3-1 to appoint Lecko to the post. He was the first and only candidate that was nominated, as board member Bill Baber’s motion was seconded and voted upon after a brief discussion.

Baber, and board members Emma Turner and Bob Duff voted in favor of Lecko. Board member Rick Winet was the lone “no” vote. Winet said glowing things about each candidate individually before the vote. He said that in his mind, Babbitt was the best candidate, given Babbitt’s history of volunteerism within the district, and his endorsement from Supervisor Dianne Jacob.

Superintendent Brian Marshall said that he was pleased with the entire process, but did expect more of a discussion before nominations, given the relative strength of each of the gentlemen.

“Actually, [the deliberation] was a little quicker than I thought it might be, just because of the quality of the candidates,” he said. “Overall, the way it evolved over the two-and-a-half-hours, I was very impressed by the questions the board asked and the answers the candidates gave. You could start to see some differences among the candidates, and I thought it was really elegant, the way it evolved.”

Marshall said that he was particularly struck by something that Lecko said when asked what sets him apart from the other candidates, which was, “I’m an architect. Architects are dreamers, and we dream on behalf of others.”

“One of the things I’ve noticed about the board over the last couple years, and rightly so, is that they’ve been bogged down by budget issues,” Lecko said. “There hasn’t been a lot of discussion about potential and trying new things; building new things. Just by my nature and training as an architect, I love dreaming, I love investigating the possibilities. But I understand that there are financial constraints, and that we also need to stay grounded.”

Lecko brings years of experience in the district to the board. A La Mesa resident, he has lived in the district for 25 years. He has worked as an architect as a career, and currently owns his own private design studio. He is a member of the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, and has served on various PTAs, and on the Mt. Helix Council PTA. He was a seven-year member of the District Advisory Council, and was its chairman from 2005-07.

“I have a lot of experience, not only at the school site level, but at the district level – program committees, chairman of various committees, so [the board] was already aware of my record of service to this great district.”

During the interviews, each candidate was asked a series of questions, two from each board member for a total of eight. The questions ranged in topics, from the school’s budget presently and in the future, to the school calendar, to whether 6^th graders should be in elementary school or middle school.

The candidates were also asked what impact they think evolving technologies will have on classrooms and the learning process, and whether or not they would support a board decision that the are not in favor of.

The only real curveball of the night came from Winet, who asked the candidates if they are not appointed, did they plan on running for school board seats in 2014?

Steiger, Babbitt, Lecko and Motten all said they would run, with Babbitt adding that he was planning on running anyway, regardless of the appointment. Winet is up for re-election in 2014, along with Duff.

Lecko, who takes over for Halgren on an interim basis until the end of the term, would also be up for re-election in 2014.

Turner said after the interview portion that each of the candidates would be an excellent addition to the board, and thanked them for their dedication to the district, and its students and teachers. But she said that Lecko’s knowledge of the current budget situation, and his ability to “hit the ground running,” was what raised him up in her eyes.

“He has specific experience within the district, and regarding the budget, he had all of the numbers and laid it all out,” Turner said. “That’s important to me. We don’t have time for a learning curve.”

Marshall said that it is a blessing to be in a district where the passion for enriching kids is so apparent.

“It’s very satisfying and invigorating to know that what we are doing resonates with the community, so much so that we’re relevant,” he said. “Getting involved in local politics is not all fun and games. It’s not glamorous. It really tells me that we are going in the right direction. And that six highly qualified community members went out of their way to fill out an application, to go through a three hour interview process, to possibly walk away disappointed, and that that risk and put themselves out there on the line, speaks to what our future holds, because any of the six would be great board members.”

But for now, and at least for another 20 months, the job belongs to Lecko, who said he’s ready to roll up his sleeves and get started.

“As far as the challenges with the budget, I have sat in the audience over the last five years seeing the school board and the administration struggle with the budget issues, and I feel like I’m very aware,” Lecko said. “I’m ready to jump right in and deal with those challenges from day one.

“My intention is not to sit up at this desk and let the community come to me. My intention as a new board member is to go out to each of the school sites and seek out those people and groups at each school, whether it be PTA, whether it be the teaching staff at a particular school, as well as obviously the parents,” he continued.

“I feel as though my role as a board member is a representative of the community. I need to go out and connect with those constituents out there.”