Larson to Run for Berkeley Seat, Nickols Seeks Reelection

By Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Williamsburg-James City County School Board Vice-Chair Ruth Larson announced Tuesday that she will run for the Berkeley District seat in November. Board Chair Jim Nickols will also seek a second term on the board.

Larson was one of three current members whose districts changed when James City County’s voting districts were redrawn in April. Jim Kelly, the current Berkeley District representative, now lives in the Jamestown district, as does Joe Fuentes, who currently represents the Powhatan District. In addition, the current terms of Roberts District rep Denise Koch and Stonehouse rep Nickols will end in December, and in the city, Elise Emanuel will have to decide if she wants to seek reappointment.

Because the county’s elected officials have staggered terms, members who were drawn out of the districts they represent have the option to continue to serve those districts until their terms end. Larson and Fuentes both have two years left in their terms, which will end on Dec. 31, 2013. Although neither lives in the district they represent anymore, their seats will not be up for election in November.

Jim Kelly’s term ends on Dec. 31, 2011, however, and because he doesn’t live in the new Berkeley district, he cannot seek reelection. He also cannot seek Larson’s seat in November, because the term does not end until 2013. The board appointed Kelly in January 2010 to fulfill the remainder of Mary Ann Maimone’s term until November 2010. At that time, he was elected to the board in a special election for a limited term to end this year.

If Larson wins the Berkeley seat, she will have to resign from the Jamestown seat following the election, said Leo Rogers, attorney for James City County. As they did when Maimone resigned, the board again would appoint a replacement to fill the seat until November 2012, at which time that person would stand for election. Kelly could submit his name for that appointment.

Because Fuentes also lives in the new Jamestown district, he could also pursue appointment to that seat. If he chose to do that and was appointed, he would then resign as Powhatan representative and the board would also have to make a special appointment for that seat.

If Larson doesn’t win in the new Berkeley district, she’s under no obligation to resign the Jamestown seat, Rogers said.

“It has been an honor to serve on the WJCC School Board for the past six years and while we’ve made great progress, there is important work yet to do to realize the potential we have to become a premier school division within the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Larson said.

Larson was first elected to the board in 2005. She has also served as president of the Stonehouse and Clara Byrd Baker Parent Teacher Associations, president of the WJCC PTA Council and has represented the school board on several committees. She served as board liaison to the New Horizons Regional Education Center and currently serves as liaison to the WJCC Visions Gifted and Talented Program. She is also Vice Chair-elect for the Tidewater Region Virginia School Board Association and is active in the Federal Relations Network for the National School Boards Association.

She and her husband, Craig Larson, will celebrate their 24th wedding anniversary in October. They have three children: Rob, 20, Caroline, 12, and Abby, 11.

Nickols joined the board in 2007. He is an ordained Lutheran pastor currently serving at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Norge. He began a theological career in the Navy in 1972, serving as a chaplain until his retirement in 2003. He possesses several theology degrees, along with a master’s degree in communication from Saint Louis University and a master’s degree in human resources management from Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I.

Nickols currently serves as chair of the school board and is an adjunct instructor at Thomas Nelson Community College’s Historic Triangle campus. He is also president of the James City County Rotary Club and the former chairperson and board member of the United Campus Ministries board for Christopher Newport University. His wife, Janell, is a fifth-grade teacher at Stonehouse Elementary School and they have two adult children, Jennifer, 25, and Joel, 24.