Campaign Advisors Named
Committee Crosses District Boundaries

 

By ROBERT E. BARNES
Special to the Chronicle

 

Lynne Hardin, who is seeking to become the next school board chairman, has drawn a broad and diverse array of campaign advisors that crosses all school board district lines.
The chairman’s post is the only position on the school board that is elected by the entire city. 
The post was created some years ago to be something of a supernumerary board member, who would act as would a chief executive officer of a typical corporate organization.
The slate of campaign advisors includes two former mayors, as well as two former gubernatorial Cabinet members.
The breadth and variety of Miss Hardin’s chest of campaign advisors might well illustrate the intensity of the feelings of those who want to see the defeat of Angela Z. Monson, who is seeking reelection.
Many of them blame Miss Monson’s lack of leadership as school board chairman for what they say is an abysmal record of the city’s schools.
They say the recently unveiled scandal regarding Douglass High School can be directly attributed to what they contend is her inane leadership record.
A transcript audit of Douglass High (Miss Monson’s alma mater) revealed that more than 80 percent of seniors at the school were not on track to graduate.
That revelation led to a scampering from school board and district officials to institute an emergency plan of night school studies, extended school days and other measures to get the students caught up.
The Hardin campaign steering committee is being co-chaired by former School Board Chairmen Clifford Hudson and Kirk Humphreys, civic leader Lou Kerr and former Mayor Ronald Norick.
Miss Hardin’s campaign steering committee includes former Secretary of Commerce Russell M. Perry and former Energy Secretary Mike Smith.
The roster of campaign advisors includes, too, south Oklahoma City builder J.W. Mashburn and former Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud.
Stanley Hupfeld, the charter school innovator, is also a member of the Hardin campaign steering committee, as are business leaders Xavier Neira, Herman Meinders, Pete Delaney, Brad Krieger and Carl Edwards.
Former School Board Member Joseph L. Clytus Jr. is one of the campaign advisors, as are Tricia Everest, Fred Hall IV, Brad Kreiger, Stanley Hupfeld and Kay Kuykendall.