Opinion
Theoretically, the voters in Lower Merion and Narberth select the Lower Merion School Board members. But in practice, when it comes to the School Board, our primary and general elections are just formalities. For at least the last ten years, the Democratic Committee of Lower Merion Narberth (DCLMN) has effectively determined who will serve on the School Board.
Every other year, in early March, DCLMN has an endorsement meeting. That’s when the Committee decides if and who they will endorse for School Board, Township Commissioner and Narbeth Borough Council.
Approximately 90 members of the Committee will participate in the endorsement meeting. To win an endorsement, a candidate must get at least 60% of the committee members’ votes.
But the 60% threshold is not as high of a bar as it might seem. The Endorsement Meeting rules are voted on before the endorsement votes take place. The rules have always required at least two rounds of voting if a full slate of candidates fails to win endorsement in the first round. So one or more candidates could fall well short of the required 60% in the first round but still win endorsement in the second round.
In 2021, for the first time in more than a decade, DCLMN did not endorse a full slate of candidates for School Board. Three candidates got the required 60% in the first round, but neither of the two candidates who made “the cut” could win the necessary 60% in the second round. As a result, there was an “Open Primary” for the fourth seat on the school board.
So Why Does DCLMN, which has the word DEMOCRATIC in its name, insist on empowering a few dozen of its members (who, except for one or two, faced no opposition in their own committee elections) to determine who will set the taxes for the other 60,000 residents, and who will oversee the administration of a school district with more than 8,000 students and a budget of more than $300,000,000?.
At the 2021 DCLMN Endorsement Meeting, Committee-Person David Dormont defended the committee’s endorsement policy. He said, “It’s important that we endorse because there are people who may be running who are not qualified, who really don’t have the diversity that we want.” “If we have an Open Primary,” he said, “if you look at the ballot, you won’t be able to tell who the Democrats are. And in fact we’ve had that problem before.”
As it turned out, DCLMN came up with a solution that put to rest any fears that Dormont and others might have had about rogue candidates filing to run, and stealing the election away from the good Democrats in the primary. The committee added a small blurb of information about each candidate so that the voters knew who not to vote for.
Mitchell Rothman, another DCLMN member took a different approach in his defense of the endorsement process. He attempted to debunk the claim that the committee “chooses” the eventual winners in local elections. “We’re not choosing,” Rothman insisted, “We’re simply making a recommendation. And if the people agree with us, I think that means that they trust our opinion.” “An endorsement,” he added, “is simply a recommendation, it does not in fact in any way stop anybody from doing what they want.”
What Rothman failed to mention about the committee’s “recommendations” is that since 2011, DCLMN has a record of 26-0. Over the last decade, no DCLMN “recommended” School Board Candidate has lost in a primary election.
Presumably, Rothman is saying that there is no law stopping anybody from running against “recommended” candidates and no law stopping anybody from voting against “recommended” candidates.
Rothman is correct. Besides the fact that it’s a total exercise in futility, nothing is stopping anybody from running against a DCLMN-endorsed candidate.
I tend to agree with much of your analysis, Gerry. Didn’t always feel that way, but experiences informed my change of heart. I do wish we had a less intellectually homogeneous school board…
But we know DCLMN is likely to stay the course – endorsing candidates is the crux of DCLMN’s power, at the end of the day. Can’t fault candidates for participating, as it’s the path to victory.
In the end, it’s all the byproduct of the voters. When they behave like sheep, makes the shepards’
mission very easy!!