Mead voters not limited in choices

If he had it to do over, Athanasios Bitsas might think twice before writing a letter to the editor saying that as an unmarried gay man he resents paying taxes for a school system he’ll never use. Particularly now that he’s running for Position 1 of the Mead School Board.

“When you run off at the mouth … sometimes you don’t choose the correct words or the right way to say stuff,” Bitsas said. “I don’t mean that I’m not willing to pay taxes. I have been unemployed for a long time. I don’t pay taxes.”

School board races often draw unopposed candidates. But in Mead, voters will get a choice in two contested school board positions come Tuesday’s election.

There’s not much in common between Bitsas and his opponent, Maureen O’Connor, who has sent four children through the Mead district. Position 1 came open when incumbent Frank Hoover decided not to run again and asked O’Connor to run.

In Position 5, the other school board race, incumbent Tom Hunt wasn’t sure whether to step down after nine years. He decided to run again because he was afraid his opponent, Carmen Green – whom he describes as “high energy” – would cause riffs in the school district.

“I do think she has some personal agenda issues,” Hunt said.

For her part, Green said the school board could use a little passion.

The race for Position 1 pits O’Connor, a longtime school volunteer, against Bitsas, 42, who left Chicago 18 months ago, hoping to find a smaller community where he could make an impact.

He has no children, but he hosts two foreign exchange students who attend Mead and Deer Park schools.

On April 16, The Spokesman-Review published a letter from Bitsas explaining his resentment to paying certain taxes. Besides being in a homosexual relationship with no children, he’s also against the war in Iraq.

“I should not have to pay for the heterosexual war machine, nor for the school system that I will never use,” Bitsas wrote.

Bitsas said the letter was written in a moment of zeal.

He adds he should have said he doesn’t make enough money to pay taxes. He works as a language tutor.

“I do have only the kids’ interests (of the district) at heart and not my own,” Bitsas said.

He’s actively involved with the Spokane Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane.

Bitsas said his strength as a candidate is the “new blood” he’ll bring to the board.

“As my opponent has said, we need new ideas and fresh ideas,” Bitsas said. “If they really do want change and fresh ideas, they will vote for me.”

For the past 20 years, his opponent has chaperoned school events and served as a member of the district committee on learning. For seven years, O’Connor also ran an SAT and ACT practice program at Mead High School. She was also a big supporter of band.

“Education’s really important to me. It’s been important in our family,” O’Connor said.

She wants to improve the communication with parents because she has seen families who discover too late that the advanced courses in high school required prerequisite classes in earlier grades.

“There are some great opportunities that are missed for certain kids, particularly in the high-end math and science classes that open up opportunities for kids in college and beyond,” she said. “The opportunities are already there at Mead, but they’re only accessed by a few.”

In the race for Position 5, challenger Green has co-chaired successful bond and levy campaigns for Mead.

When a student rented out a school theater to show Michael Moore’s film, “Fahrenheit 9/11” last year, Green said she showed up to protest the event.

The superintendent at the time, Steve Enoch, told her she did not have the right to picket what was a private event. A student had rented the facility just as churches had rented it in the past.

Green said she handed out fliers so people would have a “more balanced” view of the issues.

“Sometimes you have to take a stand. You can’t always turn your head the other way,” Green said.

Hunt has not posted a single campaign sign or sent out a flier. He said he made a decision to let his record speak for itself.

An investment representative for Edward Jones, Hunt gives himself a 50-50 shot at winning. He said he believes an agenda-driven board member like Green could cause trouble in the district.

He wants to stick around to help hire a new superintendent for the district, which now has an interim superintendent, and oversee growth including a new elementary school. Hunt, a past board president, said that in his nine years, the board ran smoothly.

Hunt’s children have graduated from Mead.

Green’s eldest daughter just graduated. She has two more, including her youngest, a fifth-grader.

“I’m in the schools because of my kids,” Green said. “That’s kind of my nature. I have to check and see what things are working.”

She started as a classroom volunteer, got involved in the Northwood Middle School site council and recently was co-chairwoman of the district levy.

She graduated from Washington State University with a communications degree. Her husband is a pulmonary doctor. She manages his office.

“I have kids at my house all the time,” Green said. “I get to hear the ins and outs of navigating the education system.”

Elected or not, she plans to be in the schools for years to come.