By ERIC FOSSELL
WSAZ.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- For the second consecutive week, the Cabell Board of Education failed to appoint a new board member to fill the seat vacated by Dr. Greg Borowski.

While board members met specifically Wednesday evening to fill Borowski's remaining 13-month term, the three-and-a-half hour meeting ended with long awkward silences coupled with angry outbursts. It was an atmosphere markedly familiar to last week's marathon meeting.

"You're out of order!" Board President Tedd Barr told fellow board member Suzanne Oxley as she attempted to explain why she would not vote for Rick Duncan, one of five candidates whom board members discussed for consideration. The Board eventually narrowed the five down to two – Carla Parker and Mary Neely.

Although board member Bessie Holley nominated Duncan, no other board member seconded the nomination. Still, Duncan continued to be discussed as a candidate – something that created considerable confusion and led Cabell County Schools Superintendent Bill Smith to comment that the school board needs legal guidance to determine if Robert's Rules of Order are being properly followed.

"I think we should get a ruling on that," Smith said.

Wednesday's special meeting actually began in a spirit of cooperation, and all four board members agreed that Neely was one of their top two picks for the vacant seat. When it came time to vote, however, Neely only received nods from Oxley and fellow board member Bennie Thomas. A candidate needs a majority vote of at least three board members to be declared a winner.

The division among board members was such that Smith suggested a surefire way to break the 2-2 tie.

"You can draw straws," he said. "It's not against the law to do that."

If board members fail to make a decision by Friday, June 5, West Virginia Schools Superintendent Steven L. Paine will select Borowski's replacement. Borowski resigned earlier this spring because of a conflict-of-interest concern. Oxley said she is reluctant to consider Duncan because she fears a similar situation. Duncan owns a Dairy Queen restaurant that employs Barr's grandson, who also is a friend of Duncan's son.

The meeting became most heated when the conflict-of-interest concern was discussed. It even led Holley to allude to Neely's age, saying Duncan would bring a spirit of youth to the Board. Neely, a former Huntington City Council member, countered with a comment that drew applause from the nearly 30 audience members who stayed until the end of the meeting.

"I'm not decrepit," she said. "Mr. Duncan's quite a bit younger than me, but I've still got a lot of fight in me."

When the meeting finally adjourned around 10 p.m., the Board agreed on one thing only – to further discuss the matter at its next regular meeting on Tuesday. It was a bitter end to an evening that began with promise.

"I came with one purpose tonight," Holley said early in the meeting. "When I walk out that door, there will be a new board member."

At the end, however, Holley and fellow board members appeared visibly tired and shaken.

"This saddens me greatly," Oxley said. "I feel very strongly about this."