Cancelled School Board Race Could Save Up to $35,000 for Albany Unified

There will be no Board of Education election this year, as just enough candidates to fill the board filed to run for the positions.

Jonathan Knight, incumbent Paul Black and Allan Maris will be appointed to the board in November.

City Clerk Jackie Bucholz said this is the first time in 35 years as clerk that she remembers this happening.

All three candidates will get a $650 fee back, which they paid to have a candidate statement appear in election materials this fall, said Bucholz.

Laurie Harden, assistant superintendent, estimated this could save the Albany Unified School District from $27,000 to $35,000.

Board member Black said it was a bit of a relief that there won't be an election.

"I can concentrate on the work of the school board and not on the campaign, though I wasn't planning to run a big campaign anyway," he said. "It's a small town. It's not necessary to spend a lot of money or a huge amount of time on an election."

Black described fellow appointee Maris as having had a long history of involvement in city politics. He has not yet met Knight.

"I don't think there will be any lack of experience or ability on the school board as a result of this," Black said.

School board terms will expire in November for incumbents Black, David Glasser and Miriam Walden.

Walden will already have served two terms, or eight years, making her ineligible for re-election. 

Glasser said July 26, via e-mail, that he did not plan to run again. 

Terms for elected positions in Albany last four years. Candidates need 20 to 30 signatures on a nomination form to win a place on the ballot. 

To hold an elected office in Albany, a person must be a United States citizen; be an elector of the city; and have been a resident of Albany for 30 days prior to his or her nomination.

Learn more about Albany elections here, via the city website, and here on Patch. See the city's list of candidates here.