Challenger, incumbent compete in Smith Valley
Two candidates are vying for one open three-year seat on the Smith Valley school board.
Christy Berry is the incumbent, but her challenger, Bob Sutton, also has school board experience.
Polls are open at Smith Valley School from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Name: Christy Berry
Occupation: Admissions director for Montana Institute of Massage Therapy campuses in Kalispell, Great Falls and Billings
Background/experience: Has served on the Smith Valley school board for the last four years; Smith Valley PTC member for six years, including two as secretary; two sons graduated from Smith Valley School and one is a student there now.
Why she’s running: “I love being on the school board. Being a small community, we don’t have a large budget. I like knowing how the budget is going. I like being fiscally responsible, educating our children properly and being good stewards of taxpayers’ money.
“I like knowing our school is being run in the way it should be run. It’s important to be involved in our children’s education. I think we have an awesome school and awesome teachers, and I’d like to see it stay that way.”
Name: Robert “Bob” Sutton
Occupation: Truck driver for Triple W Equipment
Background/experience: Former trustee (he served on the Smith Valley school board for nine years); one son graduated from Smith Valley School and two more still are students there
Why he’s running: “I thought I’d run again partly because I miss it and partly because I feel there’s more that could be done. ...
“[I missed] just being a part of it, being part of the vision that affects my children. ... I enjoyed trying to set budgets that were good for the children and the staff and give them the best education that we can with the limited money that’s available. I realize there’s going to be challenges with the budgets. I just want to be a part of it. ...
“Something I’m really proud of is in the nine years I was on the board, we only once asked for an operations levy. I don’t believe in asking for an operations levy unless when it fails there’s going to be major changes. You see schools a lot of times asking for levies, and when they don’t get them, schools a lot of times go on as normal. I think that’s doing a disservice to taxpayers.”