School board appoints Bryan

Andrew Bryan, a Baker City businessman and former vice mayor who served on the Baker City Council for 3fi years before resigning on May 28, has been appointed to the Baker School Board.

Bryan, 45, who has worked as an educational consultant for the past 20 years, applied for the seat after the call for volunteers was extended.

The two other applicants are Michael Howe, communications and government affairs specialist for the Oregon Trail Electric Consumers Cooperative, and Will Benson, Baker County Parole and Probation supervisor for the Baker County Sheriff’s Office.

The school board interviewed all three men during a special noon board meeting Thursday.

After the interviews the board voted unanimously, 4-0, to appoint Bryan to the year-long seat vacated by Deon Strommer, who resigned in June.

Although director Lynne Burroughs cast her vote along with fellow board members, she expressed reluctance to support Bryan, who had been in the minority of a 4-3 split between councilors during part of his City Council term.

The three also promoted the unsuccessful effort to recall Mayor Dennis Dorrah and Beverly Calder, who voted to fire Brocato.

“Andrew worries me because he’s been part of a very uncivil board and he’s been part of the incivility,” Burroughs said.

Yervasi defended Bryan in that regard, noting that it was “one cast of characters and my law partner (Pope)” who were involved in most of the “incivility” at City Hall.

Yervasi said Pope has much more influence on him than he does on Bryan.

“If I’m able to be civil, I would think Andrew would be,” Yervasi said.

Burroughs said before the vote that she could support any of the candidates for the short-term appointment.

“I won’t stomp my feet and dig in my toes,” she said. “I hope to see all of these gentlemen run (for a seat on the school board).”

In an interview after the meeting, Bryan said he is eager to join the board.

“I am grateful for the opportunity and humbled by the challenge,” he said.

Wednesday was the final day of Bryan’s contract to work as the county’s marketing director.  The county commissioners decided this spring to hire Timothy Bishop for that job.

Bryan said he has time to devote to the school board as he transitions from his role on the council and his county contract back to working as an educational consultant. Bryan also owns Baker City Realty and serves on the Blue Mountain Community College budget board.

He and his wife, Ann, closed their business, Mad Matilda’s, on May 29 after operating the Main Street coffee house for the past six years.

“I have considered the time commitment,” Bryan said. “I realized the opportunity existed and I had the experience.”

Before applying for the position, he said he first conferred with his wife.

“She said, ‘Go ahead. There’s nothing more important.’ ”

Ann Bryan is a third generation Baker City native. The couple’s 11-year-old daughter, Josie, will be a sixth-grader this fall at South Baker School which her mother also attended.

Andrew Bryan said he doesn’t think any past problems as a City Council member or his involvement in the recall will hamper his service on the school board.

He says his efforts in support of the recall amounted to about an hour and half collecting petition signatures, and looking back he thinks that might have been a mistake.

“I tried to stay neutral,” he said. “I wish I’d have had the understanding and wherewithal to persuade those involved that the recall wasn’t the best course of action.”

In regard to attendance at City Council meetings, Bryan said he never missed a meeting during his first two years. As the council divide deepened that changed, especially during recent budget board meetings.

“The writing was on the wall about what was going to transpire with the budget,” Bryan said.

“Sometimes when you don’t have any cards left to play, you just have to get up from the table and have a drink,” he says of his resignation from the council.

Bryan said he is eager  to offer his experience as an educational planner and consultant in his role on the school board.

“I do well being a team member,” he said. “Those who have worked with me clearly recognize that.”

He will get started right away learning more about his duties. Bryan and Walt Wegener, the district’s new superintendent, will attend a training sponsored by the Oregon School Boards Association July 10-11 at Redmond.

Bryan will serve in the appointed position until July 1, 2011. He said he plans to file for election to the position this spring. If successful, Bryan would serve out the remainder of Strommer’s term, which expires June 30, 2013.

In addition to Strommer’s open seat, the four-year terms of Rusty Munn, Ginger Savage and Yervasi expire June 30, 2011, according to the County Clerk’s Office.

Feb. 7, 2011, is the first date candidates can file for the election. The last day to file is March 17, 2011. The election will be on May 17.