Barone, Thompson unseat incumbent school board members

MOUNT VERNON – A highly-charged race for two seats on the Mount Vernon City School Board ended favorably for candidates Paula Barone and Steve Thompson, who took the win tonight in a pool of five contenders.


Their backgrounds are much different, but Barone and Thompson both say they’ll work together for the best interests of the district. Barone is a retired teacher with a national board certification. Thompson is an executive with Ariel Corp.


The two nudged out incumbents Ian Watson and Steve Hughes by identical margins of 24.99 percent each. Barone pulled in only one less vote than Thompson.


Watson earned 19 percent of the vote, while Hughes got 7.


Third in line in was Robert Kirk, a Knox County Career Center administrator who ran a joint campaign with Thompson. Kirk finished the election with 23 percent of the vote.


Despite his loss, Kirk was surprisingly upbeat.


“They (voters) picked two great candidates and I have full intentions of supporting both of them to the fullest,” he said.


This was Thompson’s first run for elected office, and he said he was appreciative for the show of support.


“People know my heart and know what I’m really about,” he said. “I’m not a politician. I don’t go and organize big parties behind me. I organize myself with people who care about kids, and fortunately tonight our efforts paid off to communicate to the people of Mount Vernon that I really want what’s best for kids.


Barone, who in addition to her teaching experience served on Mount Vernon City Council for three terms, said she plans to promote the concept of a citizens’ audit committee to help the school district manage its finances.


“I think that I am, by nature, a problem solver,” she said. “I’m eager to get involved, roll up my sleeves and see what we can do.”