Glut of candidates for St. Paul school board as 41 apply

More than three dozen people have applied for an open seat on the St. Paul School Board.

The seat was left vacant in November when board member Vallay Varro stepped down to head an education non-profit. The St. Paul School Board now has to appoint someone to fill that seat for the year remaining in Varro's term.

With the application period now closed, the district says 41 people applied. Familiar names include two former St. Paul School Board members, Al Oertwig and William Finney. Finney also used to be St. Paul's police chief.

Another applicant is David Unowsky - he used to own a well-known bookstore in St. Paul called the Hungry Mind.

Ramsey County prosecutor Dave Pinto and public relations executive Ted Davis have also applied, along with two 2010 candidates for seats in the Minnesota Legislature: Jeremiah Ellis and Avi Viswanathan.

The first round of public interviews will be later this month, Jan. 12.

Here is the list of the 41 people who have applied for the vacant seat on the St. Paul School Board:

Ms. Jeanice Braun
Ms. Taylor Burr
Mr. David Coffey
Ms. Amanda Danielson
Mr. Ted Davis
Mr. Jeremiah Ellis
Ms. Amy Walker Filice
Mr. William Finney
Mr. Brent Harder
Ms. Mary Hilfiker
Mr. Rekoe Howard
Mr. Kevin Huepenbecker
Ms. Tina Jackson
Ms. Debbie Johannessen
Dr. Kimberly Johnson
Ms. Anne Kelly
Dr. Carol Knicker
Mr. John Krenik
Mr. Neng Lee
Mr. Tim Lee
Mr. Bill Lerman
Ms. Joan Arbisi Little
Mr. Robert Lusteck
Mr. Thom Lyons Jr.
Mr. David Martinez
Mr. Steven Matysik
Ms. Cindy Moeller
Mr. Andrew Noble
Mr. Al Oertwig
Ms. Barbara O'Neill
Mr. Luis Ortega
Mr. James Peterson
Mr. Dave Pinto
Ms. Helen Proechel
Ms. Colleen Quesnell RN, BSN, PHN, LSN
Mr. Jeff Risberg
Ms. Maya Sheikh-Salah
Mr. David Unowsky
Mr. Avinash Viswanathan
Mr. Bee Xiong
Mr. Michael Yang