Dave Miner Files to Seek Re-Election to School Board

BRADENTON – First-term school board member Dave Miner has filed to seek re-election in District 3, which is made up mostly of west Bradenton and the islands. The often-controversial board member has been involved with multiple complaints and lawsuits since winning the seat in 2012, after two failed bids previously.

In a press release put out by his campaign, Miner says that ”he is seeking another term to continue his effort to improve education for our children and bring transparency and financial stability to the school district.“

Miner won the 2012 race in a landslide, defeating teacher Robert Moates by 27 points. Harry Kinnan, school board chair and District 3 incumbent at the time, had vacated the seat to retire. Miner ran as a reformer in 2012 and appeared at meetings regularly to give critical public commentary on the previous administration of Tim McGonegal and many of the board members.

As a citizen activist in 2011-12, Miner aligned himself with board members Karen Carpenter and Julie Aranibar on most issues. Aranibar and Carpenter had been elected in 2010 and constituted a vocal minority on the 5-member board, and were credited, along with Linda Schaich who ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2012 alongside Miner, with bringing to light financial discrepancies that ultimately led to tens of millions of dollars in deficits that would ultimately be discovered.

Once elected, Miner’s relationship with most of those allies quickly soured as he pursued feuds with a number of administrative employees in the district, including newly hired Superintendent Rick Mills, OPS investigator Troy Pumphrey and staff attorney Mitchell Teitelbaum. At a July board meeting, Miner made disparaging remarks against Teitelbaum, which fellow board member Charlie Kennedy said in a response may have violated the district’s harassment policy.

The feuding began when, early in Miner’s tenure, he showed up at an elementary school staff meeting and made the comment that ”West Bradenton needs another strip mall like Dolly Parton needs a third breast.“ Two female teachers complained that they found the remark sexist and offensive, prompting the school’s principal to report it to the district, which followed protocol and investigated the complaint. Miner contended that as a board member, he was above being investigated by the district, even for actions that took place on school grounds.

As a board member, Miner has been the subject of multiple lawsuits against both he and the district, an EEOC complaint by Pumphrey and multiple complaints by district employees. Miner has also drawn criticism for failing to comply with public record requests, despite his campaign promise to make the district ”a national model of transparency.“ The requests involved emails related to a company’s failed bid to provide armed security guards in schools, which Miner opposed.

Miner also drew criticism for being a vocal proponent for many of the district’s former administrators who had been arrested in the Rod Frazier sexual abuse scandal at Manatee High. Miner deviated from the board’s attorney’s recommendation and voted to reimburse the legal fees of the district’s former OPS investigator, Debra Horne, who was charged with failing to report child abuse, but entered a pre-trial diversion program rather than defend against the charges. Though under no obligation to do so, the board voted to reimburse her more than $18,000.

Miner also argued in favor of not firing former assistant principal Greg Faller, who was convicted of a failure to report child abuse charge. An ALJ had recommended Faller’s termination, as did the board and school district’s attorneys.

Miner’s main competition for the seat so far is Misty Servia, a former land use planner with the county who spent 10 years as a parent volunteer with the Palma Sola PTO, and Palmetto High educator Sadie Montanus.

School board elections are non-partisan with all candidates who qualify competing in the August primary. If one candidate does not receive a simple majority of votes, the top two vote recipients compete in the November general election. All school board races are contested by countywide vote.