Keys Fillauer
The Progress PAC political action committee has endorsed the two incumbents running for Oak Ridge Board of Education: Angi Agle and Keys Fillauer.
“PAC board members feel these candidates best support the business community’s commitment toward exceptional schools and have expressed a willingness to partner with the Oak Ridge City Council on educational issues,” a press release said.
The Progress PAC endorsements for Oak Ridge City Council candidates will be announced later, said PAC Chairman Steve Whitson, an Oak Ridge resident.
“There are 10 candidates running for seven combined City Council and School Board seats, so decisions to endorse candidates are not made without lots of thought and discussion,” Whitson said in the press release.
Angi Agle
The PAC will only support candidates who submitted written answers to Progress PAC questionnaires and who later participated in interview discussions with PAC members, the press release said.
“Nine out of 10 candidates decided to go through that process,” Whitson said. “We’re very grateful for that heavy level of participation. If it leads to a broader exchange of ideas and opinions, if it helps to define the issues in these important elections, then we believe that Oak Ridge citizens will benefit.”
The other candidate running for school board is Myra Mansfield. It’s the second campaign this year for Mansfield; she also ran for Anderson County Commission in the August 4 election.
John Smith, Progress PAC Treasurer, said that the committee decided not to contribute funds to the election campaign of any school board candidate. Instead, the committee’s support will be in the form of independent expenditures that are not in collaboration with any candidate. He noted that the committee did not even share its decisions with Fillauer and Agle.
“They will find out about our support at the same time the voters do − when they read about it in local media,” Smith said.
In addition to Whitson and Smith, Progress PAC members are Mike Belbeck, Chris Johnson, and Stacy Myers. All committee members are Oak Ridge residents.
The municipal election is November 8, the same day as the state and federal elections. Early voting is from October 19 to November 3.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
See our 2016 election coverage here.
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