Albietz bids farewell to school board

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

CLOVERDALE -- Don Albietz voted with the Cloverdale Community School Board for the last time Monday.

Monday was Albietz' final meeting as a member of the school board. He was defeated by challenger Tony Hacker in the November election.

"It's been very enjoyable," Albietz said following Monday's meeting. "This is a nice group to work with. I've really enjoyed it. It's an easy group to work with."

Prior to the ending of Monday's meeting, school board president Linda Mann acknowledged Albietz.

"We really appreciated having you here," she said.

"I really appreciated the opportunity," Albietz said.

Albietz was nominated as a replacement board member for Barb Petro, who had to step down from her position in April 2006 after suffering a stroke. She had served on the board since July 7, 1987.

Albietz was nominated to replace her after interviewing with the board in early May 2006. He was nominated over Max Cassida, William Henson, Bill Terrell, Rebecca Mannan, Cathy Tipton, Charles Mowery and Hacker. In a May 2006 special meeting, school board vice president Pamelia "Cookie" Hepfer motioned to accept Albietz as the new board member with Jim Sharp giving the second. The board voted unanimously to select Albietz as Petro's replacement.

Albietz was up for election in November, but lost to Hacker by more than 300 votes. Hacker received 980 votes, 564 of which came from Putnam County voters. Cloverdale Township consists of three precincts in Putnam and Owen counties.

In Putnam County, Hacker tallied 62 percent of the vote while Albietz finished with just 38 percent.

Mann said she enjoyed working with Albietz.

"He's done a terrific job," she said. "He came in when we lost a board member and filled the spot."

Albietz has lived in Cloverdale since 1976. He previously ran the Lieber State Park Recreation Area and had seven children go through the school system.

Currently, Sharp is the longest-tenured member of the board, having served since 1999. Other board members include Mann, Hepfer, Todd Whitlock, David Brinkman and Bobbi Nees.

Hacker is scheduled to begin service on the board in July.

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