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Pueblo County School District 70 board deadlocks on filling vacant seat after repeated tie votes
Summary
Multiple nominations and successive roll-call votes failed to produce a majority to fill a vacant board seat, leaving the district with an open director position at recess. Board members debated qualifications, community email counts and potential conflicts of interest as motions to continue or reinterview were defeated.
The Pueblo County School District 70 Board of Education spent more than two hours debating nominations to fill a vacant board seat but failed to reach the majority needed to appoint anyone before a recess.
The board president cited Colorado law during opening discussion, saying, “Under Colorado Revised Statute 22-31-129, this board has 60 days to fill a vacancy by a majority vote,” and noting that if members cannot reach agreement the statute requires the president to appoint on the 61st day. He said he preferred a consensus outcome but reaffirmed the legal timeline.
Board members considered four finalists — Jonathan Lewis, Susie Carnes, Adolf Vigil and Terrace (Tara) Straffen Reuther — through nominations and roll-call votes. Mark Emery, who nominated Jonathan Lewis, praised Lewis’s interview and community ties: “Jonathan came in and it was check, check, check,” Emery said, citing leadership, community involvement and listening skills.
Other members cited different priorities. Some argued for community support reflected in emails, with the president noting he had logged supporters for each candidate; others flagged potential conflicts of interest tied to employer or association and said they preferred candidates with deep public-school experience or other governance backgrounds. Multiple motions to reinterview candidates or to extend voting were proposed; motions to change the process were defeated on tie votes.
At several points the board conducted formal roll-call votes on individual nominees; the board’s recorded votes produced split outcomes and no majority for appointment. After a sequence of unsuccessful motions to alter the schedule or add additional interviews, the board recessed for a short break with the vacancy still open.
The board’s next procedural steps remain dictated by statute: if the board does not appoint a person within the 60-day window, the board president must appoint someone on the 61st day. The board did not reach a final appointment before recess and did not schedule a decisive appointment before the statutory deadline during the meeting.
What’s next: the board will reconvene to continue the process; absent a majority by the statutory deadline the board president is empowered to appoint a candidate to fill the vacancy.
