The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News - Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties

It doesn't take much to win elected office when nobody is running. Just ask Barb Trierweiler.

With three write-in votes, the Rossie woman won the Clay Central/Everly Director District 5 seat during the Nov. 2 election. She accepted the position without hesitation and was sworn in Monday night.

"I was not at all surprised," she said. "I was happy to take it, because I don't know who they'd get to fill it if I said no."

Incumbent District 5 Board Member Steve Kracht opted not to seek re-election this year after serving one term. Nobody else filed for the seat, leaving the position up in the air come Election Day.

Kracht did receive two write-in votes on Nov. 2, but Trierweiler got the narrow win.

And no, she didn't vote for herself.

"I'm excited," Trierweiler said after Monday's board meeting. "I'm well aware of the tasks at hand."

Trierweiler has served on the Rossie City Council for several terms, winning election the same way she won the District 5 seat. She was last elected in 2019 and currently serves on the council.

CC/E Board Secretary Diane White consulted with Superintendent Kevin Wood about a potential conflict with Trierweiler holding dual offices. He believed the situation was kosher.

"The information that he has received from his colleagues is yes, she can, based on what they know," White said.

Trierweiler previously worked at CC/E Elementary for 12 years as an office secretary. She currently works at Royal Telephone Company in customer service.

Trierweiler and her husband, Chad, have had three children graduate from CC/E. She wanted to have a positive impact on the board and was eager to help guide the district forward.

"I've always been an advocate for CC/E," she said. "In my current job, one of the first things I zone in on with new families is asking if they have kids. I always direct them to the school."

• Board mulls changing election process

After oaths of office were taken, the board once again discussed tweaking how its members are elected.

The board in March agreed to move forward with changes to current director districts. Right now, all voting CC/E constituents elect each board member from the director district in which the candidate resides. Members must live in the district they represent.

The setup has made it difficult to find candidates in recent years. In an effort to remedy the situation, the board proposed changing the rules so two members must reside north of county road B24 while two must reside south of B24. The proposal calls for one at-large member.

Under the proposal, current board members Allison Goyette and Trierweiler would represent the south side of the district while Allyn Heikens and Denny Dalen would represent the north. Board Member Brian Schmidt would hold the at-large seat.

A school board can only tweak its director districts and election process once every 10 years, according to previous discussion. Members could call a special election as well, but the board has expressed no interest in doing that.

Board members agreed to revisit the issue now that the results of the decennial census have been finalized and the election is over. The issue will be discussed further at future meetings.