For Manatee County School Board Dist. 1, We Make No Recommendation

The Manatee County School Board District 1 race is a nonpartisan contest featuring three candidates: Heather Felton, Alex Garner, and Mark Stanoch. If no candidate gets a majority of the votes, the top two will compete in a runoff on the November ballot.

This was a very difficult endorsement to entertain because we found all three candidates to be qualified for the post. Each candidate brings unique skill sets and experiences that we feel could benefit the board and we were therefore unable to reach a strong enough consensus to recommend just one to our readers.

Felton and Garner both have experience as educators, which is always a plus. Classroom experience can allow for a greater understanding of the various issues facing students, teachers, and parents. The Manatee County School Board is also a massive organization. With more than 6,000 employees, it is the largest employer in our county. Experience as one of those employees also provides key insights that can serve a board member well.

That said, sometimes, the ability to pull back and see things from a distance gives one a different kind of advantage. Over the years, several outstanding board members had no classroom experience. We believe that Stanoch has the potential to be among them.

A former high-level executive with Dell Computers, Stanoch has grandchildren in the district and says that he would like to engage in public service as a way to give back. We find him to be an honest broker in that regard. Furthermore, Stanoch’s experience managing Texas-based Dell’s relationship with Seattle-based Microsoft saw him successfully operate within two very different cultures, an experience that would serve him well in the increasingly partisan realm of education politics. His grasp of large-scale financial operations would also give him an edge on the fiscal side of the ledger, which, as this community has learned the hard way, is an important skill set.

Felton has 16 years of teaching experience in the district. She has experienced the gamut in terms of the matters on which the board legislates. She and her husband, a Manatee County Sheriff’s Deputy, have raised two children through the district, from kindergarten through graduation. Her passion for education and advocacy could not be more evident and can be heard in her recent TBT podcast appearance, which you can listen to here (Mr. Stanoch will be our guest on Aug. 7).

Mr. Garner is a Manatee County native and district alum whose wife is also a teacher in the school district. Garner is a financial advisor with his own firm. During Covid, he began teaching business classes at Palmetto High School. Garner comes across as thoughtful and intelligent.

That said, two things give us pause regarding his candidacy. The first is the fact that he has received strong financial support from the development community, a sector that has enjoyed an outsized influence on local government for too long. Secondly, Garner chose to hire SIMWINS, the political consulting firm of Anthony Pedecini, known for employing unscrupulous tactics on behalf of its clients. We believe that engaging a firm so notorious for its dishonesty and lack of moral scruples raises character questions.

While we are not issuing an endorsement in this race, we strongly recommend that voters in District 1 take the time to view the Tiger Bay debate, available on YouTube at this link. All three candidates participated, along with the three candidates competing in District 3.