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Mike Rivault
Mike Rivault was a Republican candidate for District 6 on the St. Tammany School Board in Louisiana. He was for office in the November 4, 2014, general election against Michael C. Nation (R), but later withdrew from the race. Rivault stated the realization that he could not hold elected local office as a full-time state employee made him decide to drop out of the race. He announced his intention to withdraw from the race on October 21, 2014.[1]
Biography
Rivault was employed as the director of communications and marketing for Southeastern Louisiana University at the time of his candidacy. He held a similar position at the University of New Orleans. He has also worked as an adjunct professor at Tulane University, in other advertising and communications roles and as a high school teacher in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System.[2][3]
Rivault attended Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College where he received a bachelor's of general studies, a master's of education in secondary social studies and a master's of business administration. He graduated from both master's programs with a 4.0 GPA.[2][3]
Rivaults family includes his wife, Deborah, and their three children. Deborah is a reading resource teacher at Woodlake Elementary. They are members of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and their children attend school in the St. Tammany school system.[4]
Elections
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.[5]
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
Rivault withdrew from the race prior to the election. Since the ballots were already printed, his name appeared on the ballot. None of the votes in the race were counted.
Funding
Rivault reported no contributions or expenditures to the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program.[6]
Endorsements
Rivault did not receive any official endorsements in this election.
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?[7] |
” |
| —Louisiana Secretary of State's website (2014)[8] | ||
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.[9][10]
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.[11]
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.[11]
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.[12][13]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Mike + Rivault + St + Tammany + Parish + Public + Schools"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "Mike Rivault to drop out of St. Tammany School Board race; Michael Nation will be winner," October 21, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 LinkedIn, "Mike Rivault profile," accessed September 12, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mike Rivault campaign website, "Education Experience," accessed September 12, 2014
- ↑ Mike Rivault campaign website, "About Mike," accessed September 12, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, "Louisiana Campaign Finance Reports," accessed October 30, 2014
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 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
