Do you know someone in Epsom who could be a good school board candidate? Someone with a resume full of useful things would be great, but it could be someone who’s a lifelong private citizen with a proven interest in the well-being of taxpayers and students. Remember that Richard Nixon was just an ordinary lawyer when he was recruited in 1946 to unseat a California Dem in Congress. According to James Perloff in his book, The Shadows of Power, Nixon had never been elected before to any office, not even dog catcher.
What that means for Epsom is that anyone electable who cares about school spending should consider running. From the recent 603 school candidate seminar, the official platform would be academic excellence, school safety, and welcoming parental involvement, all 3 of which I support. I would be lying to the voters if I ran for office by presenting those things as a higher priority than minimizing school spending, but that’s just me, not someone else. Who will be that someone else? While considering who that person may be, I’ll give a brief backstory to this situation.
There are 5 seats on the school board in Epsom, all for terms of 3 years, and elections are for 2 next year, 1 in 2028, and 2 in 2029. A resignation of unknown nature (to me) occurred sometime before last year’s local election, and Dr. O’Sullivan ran unopposed for that seat, winning the rest of a term set to expire in 2027. At the polls, I learned that he had a fatal heart attack last weekend, creating a vacancy, but it’s good to know more about the whole body. The chair is a Dem and he votes the wrong way, which Dems are known to do. I’ve also observed the vice chair doing Uniparty bidding, particularly in voting for budget increases at the October 22 budget hearing. So that’s the current leadership. Let’s discuss the winners of the election we just had.
There were 3 candidates running for 2 seats, 2 of whom were incumbents. Gordon Ellis, the reliable conservative vote, was thankfully reelected. The other winner is Andrew Fisher, a well-spoken man from Texas A&M who has a resume rich in school administration. He might turn out to be good, but I was NOT a fan of him complaining about someone at the school deliberative session making a move to cut $100G from the special education line of the budget. Alas, free speech is for everyone, and he did all of us a favor by not keeping his objection to himself.
The loser of the school race, praise God, was Carol Zink Mailloux (CZM). I mentioned her in my previous article. She was appointed, presumably in a 3-1 vote, by the rest of the body on 7/25/25. In her written statement for a candidate forum she didn’t attend, she said she wanted Andrew Fisher elected with her, another way of saying she wanted Gordon Ellis to lose. It’s unknown to me how many other candidates applied for consideration last summer, how long in advance the vacancy and candidate search were announced, and something else just as important.
How long did the people in power know about the impending resignation of the departing member? I have heard that “people knew about it for a long time,” and I did not “play 20 Questions.” How long did the school administration know? How long did the TU know? How long did committee leadership know? How long did Dr. O’Sullivan know, and how long did CZM herself know? Was there a discussion between CZM and the existing school board members that other applicants did not get to have?
I’ve observed something over my 20 years working for Comcast, and I know it’s not unique to that one employer. In fact, it’s not an uncommon practice among large employers, perhaps at the advice of their legal departments. A department manager knows there will be a vacancy, either through attrition or the creation of a new position. Company policy dictates a process that must be adhered to, and it has detailed procedural and timing requirements. The opening is posted on the company bulletin board, and every eligible applicant is entitled to a first interview, blah blah blah. I’m sure you know where I am going with this.
The hiring manager already selected who s/he wants for that open position, but it’s necessary to go through the motions to stay safe from litigation by disappointed and qualified applicants. I surmise that the school lawyer advised the school board on the minimum requirements to satisfy as they push forward with the expedited process of installing their desired applicant. This is SAU 53, one of the districts that Cornerstone Attorney Ian Huyett mentioned in several of his recent Students First Act tweets that were retweeted by Cornerstone. This is the kind of character Epsom residents are dealing with in the way their public servants operate in the school system.
Epsom needs a new school board member to vote WITH Gordon Ellis, not against him. Having 2 solid members out of a body of 5 is still a minority, but I think there’s some hope in member-elect Andrew Fisher in that he can be reasoned with using solid facts and numbers. It goes without saying that the enemy camp is going to try to reinstall CZM as their candidate. Because this new vacancy was not planned, we must take advantage of the element of surprise and get someone good already mobilized for campaign time. Can you recommend someone who can win?
