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Michael Dirmann
Michael Dirmann (Republican Party) was a member of the St. Tammany Parish School Board in Louisiana, representing District 3. Dirmann assumed office in 2003. Dirmann left office on December 31, 2022.
Dirmann (Republican Party) won re-election to the St. Tammany Parish School Board to represent District 3 in Louisiana outright in the primary on November 6, 2018, after the primary and general election were canceled.
Elections
2018
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Michael Dirmann (R) won the election without appearing on the ballot.
2014
Fifteen seats on the St. Tammany Parish School Board were up for election on November 4, 2014. Incumbents for all districts were up for re-election. In uncontested races, candidates were considered elected without opposition as soon as the filing deadline passed.
Just one of the seats was contested in the election: Districts 9. Incumbent John C. Lamarque (D) of District 13 also did not file to run for re-election. Robin Mullett (R), the District 9 incumbent, was elected without opposition to the open seat. Sharon Lo Drucker (R) and Shane Hodgson (I) faced each other in the contest to fill Mullett's vacated seat.[1]
District 6 incumbent Roanne V. Tipton (R) did not file to run for re-election. Newcomers Michael C. Nation (R) and Mike Rivault (R) both filed in the race to fill her seat, but Rivault later withdrew from the race. Nation was automatically elected to the District 6 seat. The remaining seats were all retained by the following incumbents who were elected without opposition: Neal M. Hennegan (R) in District 1, Elizabeth B. Heintz (R) in District 2, Michael "Mike" J. Dirmann (D) in District 3, Stephen "Jack" J. Loup III (R) in District 4, Charles T. Harrell (R) in District 5, Willie "Coach" Jeter (D) in District 7, Peggy H. Seeley (R) in District 8, Ronald "Ron" Bettencourtt (R) in District 10, Robert "Bob" R. Womack (R) in District 11, James "Ronnie" Panks Sr. (R) in District 12, Ray Anthony Alfred (D) in District 14 and Mary K. Bellisario (R) in District 15.
Results
Dirmann was re-elected without opposition at the close of the filing period on August 22, 2014.
Funding
Dirmann reported no contributions or expenditures to the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program.[2]
Endorsements
Dirmann did not receive any official endorsements in this election.
2010
Dirmann was re-elected without opposition.[3]
What was at stake?
While all 15 seats were up for election, 12 of those were filed by incumbents elected without opposition. An additional seat was filed by an incumbent switching districts, leaving just two contested races in the election. After Mike Rivault (R) withdrew from the District 6 race, just one seat was left undecided. Prior to the election, the board was comprised of 11 Republicans and 4 Democrats. Democrats lost one seat, which could have become Republican or independent. The District 9 race between Drucker (R) and Hodgson (I) determined the new board's partisan makeup. The board remained solidly Republican.
However, the long tenure of several of these returning incumbents now had a definite end guaranteed after a 2012 vote which instated term limits on school board members. The new term limits took effect with terms won in this election.
While much stayed the same in terms of board membership, several issues faced the district. Like much of the country, Common Core was a topic of interest in the district, as well as a controversy about the school board's financial arrangement with Assistant District Attorney Harry Pastuszek.
Issues
Issues in the district
Term limits
Terms won in this election were the first to be affected by the imposition of term limits on school board members in the parish. On November 6, 2012, St. Tammany Parish voters elected by a strong majority to instate term limits.
The question appeared on the ballot as follows:
| “ | LOCAL OPTION ELECTION
Within St. Tammany Parish School District: Shall the number of terms of office that any member of the school board may serve be limited to three consecutive four-year terms?[4] |
” |
| —Louisiana Secretary of State's website (2014)[5] | ||
Election results
| Parishwide School District Local Option Term Limits Proposition (2012) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Yes | 87373 | 84.94% | ||
| No | 15496 | 15.06% | ||
Starting with terms that began on or after January 1, 2015, any member who, at the end of his or her term, has served more than two and one-half terms in the last three consecutive terms cannot be re-elected in the following term. However, they can be re-elected following the one term break. The limit does not apply retroactively to incumbents, thus allowing them to potentially serve up to 12 more years.[6][7]
ADA Harry Pastuszek controversy
Spending on legal counsel by the school board to Assistant District Attorney Harry Pastuszek came under criticism following the revelation that the district had paid more than $500,000 for the services in the last year. The practice of assistant district attorneys providing legal counsel to school boards is common in Louisiana. However, the payment for those services is a complicated manner. Whether these deals are seen as a public service that is compensated through the district attorney's office or a private arrangement that is compensated directly with the lawyer providing the services varies.[8]
In the case of the St. Tammany School Board, the school board has paid Pastuszek directly for legal services. The district paid him $440,666 in 2011, $475,194 in 2012 and $545,399 in 2013.[8]
Common Core
- See also: Common Core State Standards Initiative
Although the school board approved a resolution calling on the state to drop the Common Core standards in October 2013, the topic was not closed. At the September 11, 2014, school board meeting, 10 people spoke to the school board to express their dissatisfaction with the mathematics curriculum being taught under the Common Core. While Governor Bobby Jindal (R) has sued the federal government over Common Core, Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White has been a strong supporter.[9][10]
See also
- St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, Louisiana
- St. Tammany Parish Public Schools elections (2014)
- St. Tammany Parish Public Schools elections (2018)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, "Louisiana Campaign Finance Reports," accessed October 30, 2014
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "St. Tammany Parish election results," October 2, 2010
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed September 12, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "HOW ARE CANDIDATES ELECTED?" accessed September 2, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES," accessed September 2, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The New Orleans Advocate, "Tammany DA’s arrangement with School Board raises questions," September 4, 2014
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "Common Core opposition again visits St. Tammany Parish School Board," September 11, 2014
- ↑ Politico, "Bobby Jindal sues federal government over the Common Core," August 27, 2014
