Sports

Results Worth the Wait for Valaitis, Brunette

The Whitnall School Board results were not announced until early Wednesday morning, but Eileen Valaitis and Quin Brunette were happy to see their names at the top.

It was a late night, but for Eileen Valaitis, it proved to be worth the wait.

Making her first run for the , the Hales Corners resident unofficially won Tuesday’s election.

But Valaitis almost went to bed Tuesday not knowing the outcome. After the Village of Hales Corners reported its results shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, Valaitis and the other contenders waited until nearly 11:30 p.m. for Greenfield’s. Franklin's results didn't come in until just before 1 a.m. Wednesday.

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“It was a late, late night,” Valaitis said. “I was just about to give up, but I checked one more time and saw the final results.”

Valaitis . Also claiming a seat was Greenfield’s Quin Brunette with 1,515. Franklin’s Jon D. Jones was third (1,363) and incumbent Mike Clarizio of Greenfield (1,232) was fourth.

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“We were all running for the right reasons,” Valaitis said. “I feel very privileged to get just enough votes to land a position.”

Valaitis said her experiences volunteering in Hales Corners paid off in a big way yesterday. She tallied 775 votes in the village, outdistancing herself from Brunette’s 596 and Jones’s 595.

“I’ve been very involved in the Hales Corners part of the district, and the people that have worked with me got to know me and trust me and know I’m a hard worker,” Valaitis said. “They kind of spread the news about who I was to those who didn’t know me.”

Valaitis said she’s excited to be on the board. She also said she has a lot of respect for the administration, teachers and staff, and that she’ll work hard for the district’s students.

“I want them to know I wanted this position because I want to make sure they get the best education and best extra-curricular opportunities available to them because I want them to be successful.”

The wait for Brunette was a bit different. He earned a seat after an unsuccessful election attempt last year, and though he didn’t change his campaign strategy too much, he believes his involvement in district activities and last year's campaign put him over the top.

“That’s what really did it, name recognition, another year of people knowing my name,” Brunette said.

Both Brunette and Valaitis said the first thing the new board has to take care of is the 2012-13 calendar issue. Brunette said he also plans to propose the board distribute weekly or bi-weekly communications to the district, by email or phone, to “let them know what’s going on.”

“That will go a long way to get more people involved,” Brunette said.

Brunette admitted working with board members will be a challenge for someone who has owned his own contracting business for several years.

“I get things done,” he said. “I do them and live with the results. To work with a board of people that needs to come to a consensus, it’s not my way, and it will be a challenge for me. There’s no doubt.”


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