A bevy of candidates have unofficially submitted their names for the vacant District 9 school board seat, but one candidate is quietly garnering support.
Elizabeth Merkel has been in contact with several members of Council. Merkel, whose daughter is about to enter kindergarten, works as a legislative liaison to the general assembly for the state department of commerce and insurance.
“I think Elizabeth would be a good candidate for the seat,” west Nashville councilman Jason Holleman said last week.
Metro Council will be responsible for appointing a replacement for Alan Coverstone, who resigned last month to pursue a position working with charter schools for the school system. The position will be officially announced Tuesday and likely filled July 23.
Lee Limbird, who narrowly lost to Coverstone in last year’s election, has also submitted her name.
Councilmanic courtesy, an unofficial practice where the rest of Council defers to a district member on bills related to a certain neighborhood, might not be in full effect when Metro Council appoints a replacement, but the west Nashville contingency will have a heavy hand in making the decision.
West Nashville Council members Eric Crafton, Emily Evans, Holleman, Carter Todd and Bo Mitchell all have portions of their district feed into the vacant school board seat.
And more than one Council member told <i>The City Paper</i> they would put heavy consideration into recommendations from the West Nashville Council members.
“I wouldn’t expect the rest of Council to give us councilmanic courtesy and just vote for whoever we choose, but I would hope they would listen to us,” Mitchell said.
Limbird earned the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union on Monday.