Pamela L. Cousins
Prince Frederick, MD – A fresh face and a very familiar one will be serving on the Calvert County Board of Education (BOE) this January. The Nov. 4 General Election included a four-person race for two at-large seats for the county’s elected school board.
The top vote-getter was Pamela L. Cousins of Dunkirk, who tallied 13,163 votes during early voting and on Election Day. The second at-large seat was claimed by William J. “Bill” Phalen of Huntingtown, who garnered 12,023 votes.
While Cousins will be a BOE member for the first time, Phalen’s school board service goes back to the days when Calvert still had an appointed school board.
The county’s BOE term limit law prohibited Phalen from seeking a fourth consecutive term on the panel in 2010. Phalen opted to run for county commissioner that year. His campaign was unsuccessful. The law did not bar Phalen from running for the BOE this year and he filed earlier this year.
The school board’s two at-large incumbents—Dawn C. Balinski and Dr. Eugene Karol—finished third and fourth respectively.
On Election Night Cousins admitted the realization that her grassroots campaign that succeeded had a “surreal” feeling to it. She credited the victory to her “small army” of campaign supporters who worked as a team to make Cousins’ win possible.
When asked if she thought her win could be attributed to public dissatisfaction with the current board, Cousins admitted, “that’s the story on the street.” The winning candidate acknowledged her learning curve “will be sharp” as she becomes acclimated to being a school board member.
“I’m thrilled to be back,” said Phalen, who was in the audience—or was the audience—at the BOE’s Nov. 6 meeting. He admitted “it wasn’t something I intended to do four years ago, but I’m looking forward to it.”
During the board comments segment of the meeting Balinski, who resides in Lusby, publicly announced her intention to apply for the vacant First Election District BOE seat. The seat was vacated by Joseph Chenelly, who has moved out-of-state. The Calvert County Commissioners will appoint an applicant to fill the last two years of Chenelly’s unexpired term.
For Karol, the election result likely means an end to his long association with Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS), an affiliation which was revived in 2006 when he was elected to the BOE. Prior to that, Karol had served 13 years (1980 to 1993) as CCPS superintendent. He ran unsuccessfully for the BOE in 2000 and county commissioner in 2002.
The former superintendent, serving as BOE president, led the current panel in its selection of Dr. Daniel Curry as CCPS’ new superintendent. While Karol indicated he was disappointed he lost the election, he declared, “we have a good superintendent.”
During his closing comments at the Nov. 6 meeting, Karol offered his congratulations to the winners of the BOE race.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com