Just as the middle child commonly is ignored, the middle finisher in the School Board race also has been overlooked in the 2½ weeks since Election Day — and this has not happened often in Laura Chardiet’s accomplished life.
Most of the oxygen has been consumed by how Nancy Goldberg, the top votegetter, and incumbent Scott Zeidman surprisingly fared.
Normally, Ms. Chardiet does not go unnoticed or remarked upon.
A Type A personality with a strong streak of independence — just what the Board needs after losing its two most stentorian voices, Steve Gourley and Mr. Zeidman.
Ms. Chardiet has been easy to look past only because she is temporarily in political limbo, between jobs, until she is sworn in at the Tuesday, Dec.13, Board meeting.
Coming off a high-profile decade of leadership in the PTA world, she is expected to be at the helm of decision-making and influence from the start, the way her two predecessors were.
“I have been preparing for this my whole life,” she told the newspaper.
Will she have to be tougher than she was leading the PTA Council? “I am a very straight-forward person,” Ms. Chardiet says. “I need to make sure I am very clear in what my intentions are and in what the expected outcomes are.
Why? Why Not?
“When I talk to people, I want to know how is the desired outcome? What are they hoping to achieve? Then let’s figure out how we can make that happen.
“If we can’t make it happen, why not? We will need to have a good explanation of why.”
Unlike many incoming freshman, friends say Ms. Chardiet will not need a warmup period. She is ready.
With the first and hardest step having been taken last Tuesday to jump-start the long lingering four capital improvements projects, Ms. Chardiet says she is coming in at a propitious time.
“I want to congratulate the Board” for approving the plan and assigning costs to each of the individual plans.
What will Ms. Chardiet’s envisioned role be as the caopital configurations finally hover into view after years of stalling and delaying?
She sees herself as a facilitator who will listen to arguments from opposing sides, and then turn to resources — experts — she has cultivated and relied on during her PTA years. She will consult persons who have experience with capital projects, who are familiar with modernization grants, who have been project managers.
Ms. Chardiet knows where to go for wisdom even though she has not dealt with capital improvements in her PTA tenure. “I just have added on to my house twice,” she said with a laugh.
The LAUSD grants administrator plans to take a closer look at the School District’s deployment of consultants.
“I want to see what kind of a bang we are getting for our buck,” Ms. Chardiet said. “I want to make sure we are getting the outcome we should be getting.”
She has a plan in mind. “I want to see a three- or five-year comparison to money that previously was spent on consultants,” she said. “Considering the economy, should these contracts be renegotiated?”
