Skala for Huntley Dist. 158

Many an elected official or candidate for public office has made a mistake at some point in his or her career. The final judgment often stems not from the mistake itself, but from what was learned from the error.

Such judgment becomes even more important when two candidates running for a single seat both have flaws in their public roles.

Such is the case in Huntley Unit District 158 where incumbents Michael Skala and Larry Snow are competing for one 2-year seat. Four other candidates are running for the four 4-year seats.

Both Snow and Skala have their public critics. Both have, clearly, made mistakes in their public tenure. And both have also brought much good to this school district where contention and board meetings seemed irrevocably linked for a long time.

Skala's critics, primarily led by Snow, note that Skala's wife is a teacher and has been a union official in the district, questioning why Skala at one point voted on a teacher's contract or was anywhere near negotiation sessions. It's a valid concern and, when initially raised more than an election ago, he took steps to ensure he is not part of those tricky teacher contract negotiations.

Similarly, after Skala's role on the infamous referendum mistake that would have cost taxpayers more than bargained for, he worked hard to make amends, becoming a prime mover in the change of state law to prevent it from happening again.

Snow has also brought some good by asking hard questions and challenging the school board to be fiscally responsive and restrained. Critics, including us, however, would note his mercurial and challenging personality and tendency to spin things to Mars muddies the picture. In response, he toned it down for awhile and seemed to be an effective board member despite a tendency to showboat in public with less than the full story. To throw verbal grenades or allegations just to rile things up is hardly effective in any forum, much less a school board. As witnessed by numerous posts on various news stories in recent weeks, Snow's spinmeter is on overdrive and it's clear he feels his public post is a pulpit with a loudspeaker and a spotlight.

That's worrisome.

Though we've thoroughly chastised Skala at times, we've found he's worked hard to remedy his errors and has developed into a reasoned, thoughtful board member tuned in to both the district's and taxpayer's needs. Mike Skala is endorsed.