Letter: Larry Reilly is the right man for the job

This is a critical School Board election. It is important that our future Board continue the great work our present Board has completed over the last decade. So, it is imperative that Larry Reilly be elected as LTUSD School Board Trustee for Area #1. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done in our district. There are important decisions that need to be made. Our schools and our community need practical, tough, experienced leadership to support Dr. Tarwater in his continuing efforts to make LTUSD a great district for our children. Larry Reilly is the only candidate in this race who provides that experienced leadership.

Now there has been some discussion about Conflict of Interest in this race.
Several people in this community have cavalierly thrown that around while questioning whether Larry is the right person for this seat. Their argument centers around Larry’s wife, Michelle, being a counselor at the High School. And since this has been raised, I am going to answer it. First, if you know the Reillys at all, you know that they are the most fair-minded and compassionate couple one could possibly hope to know. Both Michelle and Larry will always make decisions based not on what serves their own best interests, but rather on what is simply right and wrong. Secondly, if you know the Reillys at all, you know Michelle will be retiring in the next few years. So in the near future, this conflict of interest argument against Larry and his wife, Michelle, will not be pertinent at all. The bottom line is this Conflict of Interest argument against Larry is disingenuous at best.

However Chris Campion in a letter in the Tahoe Daily Tribune did this very thing by offering a very specific example concerning school district salaries. Others have raised this as well, so the argument needs to be addressed. In all truth, if there is any potential for a Conflict of Interest in this race, the obvious one is having a child or children enrolled in a local school. The wrong person on a School Board can create all sorts of problems for teachers and administrators alike. If a school board member has children at an elementary school, will his/her decisions regarding monies allocated to various schools be altered by this self- interest? Will a staff member feel pressure to accommodate a school board member’s child? Will an administrator feel compelled to discipline a school board member’s child in a manner different than he or she should? The list of potential Conflicts of Interest go on and on, and in this specific case, we could be looking at such a scenario for 10-12 years! Yet, there is no question in my mind that both candidates will perform their duties in an admirable fashion if elected. However to speculate about Larry Reilly without speculating about his opponent is simply wrong.

The bottom line is that we need to elect the most qualified person. We need to elect the person who can move the district forward. While there will be a learning curve for both candidates, it is clear that Larry Reilly’s track record of leadership and his vast experiences in the field of education make him the most qualified candidate in this race. Add to that the fact that Larry Reilly has, and will always have, his thumb on the pulse of this community, and the choice is obvious. Over 35 years in this community certainly trumps 2. Over 35 years of hands-on experience in education, in our community, certainly trumps a mixed bag of experience that mostly features work in the world of standardized testing. Over 35 years of working WITH local school boards most assuredly trumps working for McGraw Hill – one of the largest testing corporations in this country. So on Tuesday vote for the most qualified candidate in this race. Keep our children’s future in mind when you vote for Trustee Area #1 – vote Larry Reilly.

- Derek Allister
South Lake Tahoe