Chichester seeks school board seat

Twenty-eight years of public service might be enough for some people, but not Ross Chichester.

The 54-year-old wraps up almost three decades on the Minden Town Board in December and hopes to begin in January with the Douglas County School Board.

The Carson Valley native filed this week for the school board seat being vacated by long-time member Keith Roman. He faces retired Douglas teacher Jeanette Turnbeaugh in the election.

Chichester is losing his Minden seat to term limits.

He said he was drawn to the school board because he thinks he can provide stability.

"Over the last year and a half, there's been so much controversy on the board," Chichester said. "In Minden, we try to do things a lot by consensus. I felt the school board was really fragmented. I am concerned because it's almost the biggest taxing entity in Douglas County. I think we need to provide some stability."

Chichester is in his 36th year with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. He went to work as a dispatcher, became a cadet at age 18 and a deputy at 21. He retired from full-time duties, but still works part-time for DCSO.

"I do all of their financial stuff - budgeting, grant writing, purchasing," he said. "I would like to see someone on the school board have some government finance experience. The school board gets their money from the government, too, and I want to make sure it's being spent the right ways."

Chichester, the fourth generation of a Carson Valley ranching family, graduated from Douglas County High School in 1974. His daughter Sarah is a graduate of Douglas High School along with many other family members.

He said he hopes to bring a spirit of collaboration to the board so trustees can spend their time increasing standards and improving the educational experience of Douglas County students.

"Douglas can do much more," he said. "We're the richest county in the state of Nevada. We're not facing the budget problems of Washoe County and Carson City and Las Vegas, and I think we should be able to excel instead of being near the bottom."

Chichester said he believes in the basics.

"Some things are going to need to be cut out. I think the basic things should be reading, writing, and arithmetic, maybe we can cut some of the other programs that are less cost effective."

He was critical of the $200,000 the district recently spent on consultants for a facilities master plan.

"I was very disheartened to see the district spend $200,000 to tell us what schools we should close. That money could have been put back into education," he said.

Chichester said he hopes the voters will allow him to keep serving the public on the school board.

"I honestly believe government should be there to help people, not make things more difficult. Hopefully, that's what I can do for the school district," Chichester said.