By:Rebecca Shalomoff
In an historic vote, Dr. Sol Blisko defeated Marguerite Engelman in a special election on Tuesday, filling a vacant seat on the Lawrence school board.
Blisko won by a vote of 1,678 to 1,276, in the first special election to fill a District 15 board seat in recent memory. The seat was vacated by Gale Srulevich, who resigned in July with one year left on her term. The board felt holding the election was more fair than appointing a replacement or leaving the seat open until the May election.
Blisko joins the board at a time when the public apparently has lost confidence in the district's fiscal management. In August, the board discovered that $1.8 million was overspent in the 2000-2001 budget and an additional $700,000 in this year's budget. This forced the board to raise taxes by 14.16 percent. I'm stepping into a very difficult position,Blisko said. But I'm going to try to work with the rest of the board to bring a good solution for everyone.
