Two file for West Fairfax seat on School Board

A retired engineering process and tools manager and a longtime farmer will go head-to-head during November’s special election to represent the town’s West Fairfax District on the Culpeper County School Board.

John Cerio and Bob Houck will be vying for the seat Jimmy Lee left vacant when he resigned in May.

According to Culpeper County Registrar Michele White, Jennifer Barbee showed interest in running but failed to file any petitions by the Aug. 21 deadline.

Last month, the Culpeper County School Board appointed Houck, 61, to fill the position.

The board voted 6-0 in favor of Houck.

Before the appointment, Houck, Cerio and Barbee faced three other candidates seeking the position: Rick Boswell, Monica Chernin and Jerry Beckett.

All six submitted applications to the School Board before the June 30 deadline, and all six had expressed their desire to be on the ballot in November.

The board interviewed five of the six candidates during its special meeting July 20 before making its decision. Beckett was unable to make that meeting.

As an interim board member, Houck will serve at least until to Dec. 31. At the polls Nov. 3, West Fairfax voters will determine who will finish the remaining two years of Lee’s four-year term, which ends Dec. 31, 2011.

Houck, who lives in the 400 block of Sperryville Pike, owns and operates Shirob Farm, a beef cattle ranch in Stevensburg. He was vice president of finance when he retired from Warrenton Farm Credit in 1998.

Cerio, 68, a retired manager for Raytheon and GE, has 25 years of management experience and 40 years overall.

In other Culpeper County district races:
* Incumbent George Dasher filed to seek a second term on the School Board for the Stevensburg District.
* Incumbent Leanne Jenkins filed to seek a third term for the Jefferson District.
* Incumbent Elizabeth Hutchins filed to seek a third term for the Cedar Mountain District.
* Richard Goff is also running for the Cedar Mountain District seat on the School Board; he will go up against Hutchins for a second time in November.