District picks AC Root

June 18--CLINTON -- The AC Root Agency will retain its position as the Insurance Company and Agent of Record for the Clinton Community School District until June 30, 2018.

The decision came Wednesday when the Clinton School Board voted, during a special meeting, in favor of AC Root 4-3, despite the scoring results of a request for proposal in favor of competing company Core-Vens Insurance.

Prior to the vote, Superintendent Deb Olson spoke on the matter, which the board has discussed since early May, that no matter what the board decided, either company "will do an exceptional job" serving the school district.

"You have before you two very high-quality companies that have come forward with their desire to work for you. I think I should make sure that our public knows that," Olson said. "They are both from our community, and each one will do an exceptional job."

Chris Vens, co-owner and agent of Core-Vens Insurance, had a different opinion on the selection and on how the board handled the situation as a whole.

"The process has been a fiasco; the RFP process is a mockery of it," Vens said. "Regardless of how big a piece of business this is, how prestigious or how lucrative from a financial standpoint this piece of business may be, we maintain our moral and our ethical compass."

The process of selecting an agent of record has not been a smooth one for the school board.

The topic first reached the voting level during a May 11 board meeting, when the board rejected a recommendation from an appointed committee to award Core-Vens the contract based on its score on the RFP.

Board member Jack Wenzel expressed his disappointment during that meeting by walking out claiming a resignation from the school board -- later to be redacted -- because of the indecision of the appointed committee.

"I guess I have a hard time understanding how you guys (the committee) sit in a meeting and look at all the facts and then you come here and you can't make a decision," said Wenzel, at the May 11 meeting.

That indecision led to the group tabling the final vote until the June 8 regular board meeting, at which time again a decision wasn't made.

With the absence of board member Missey Sullivan-Pope, the voted ended in a 3-3 tie, forcing Olson to schedule a special meeting Wednesday to get the final decision secured before the July 1 expiration of the current contract with AC Root.

During the special meeting, AC Root owner Julie Bray once again had a horde of supporters there to argue on her behalf, including former school board member and district teacher Mercia Wolf.

As a member of the board when the district decided to stray from the appointment of Core-Vens Insurance, Wolf provided insight she believed would be helpful in guiding the selection.

"I served on the board when the change was made from Core-Vens to AC Root. Once I understood the reasons for the change I felt it was warranted," Wolf said. "In the years since the change the district has been well served by AC Root. I fail to understand why a change would be made unless there was some failure of service. Your foremost consideration should be the best protection for the district and the use of taxpayer dollars; AC Root has provided that."

Bray herself made that same argument during the May 11 meeting, expressing that AC Root had recovered "gaps" in the district's policy with Core-Vens that ended up saving money.

At the time it was enough to sway board members, and committee members, Gregg Obren and Jenny Green from redacting their initial recommendation of Core-Vens to eventually voting in favor of AC Root at the June 8 meeting.

When Wednesday's meeting arrived, it was board member Eric Gettes who made the difference. During the June 8 meeting, Gettes voted in favor of Core-Vens, even making the motion to approve the company, but on Wednesday, he was the deciding vote in appointing AC Root.

While Gettes didn't shed any light on his decision, school board President Jim McGraw took the opportunity to express his opinions on how the board approached the subject.

"This is not about one versus the other. As Superintendent Olson said, these are two highly qualified people who were asked to do an RFP," McGraw said. "It came out significantly different than what the vote is coming out; it's hard to understand how that happens."

Assistant Editor Amy Kent may be contacted at amykent@clintonherald.com.

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