http://qui.live.mediaspanonlinen.com/rss/ Quincy Herald Whig en-us By HOLLY WAGNERHerald-Whig Staff WriterMelvin “Bud” Niekamp led two special meetings of the Quincy School Board on Thursday night as president pro tempore for the first time in his 20 years on the board.It was an often contentious, and definitely unforgettable, 2-hour, 45-minute roller-coaster ride that was riddled with mistakes in parliamentary procedure and punctuated by several citizens calling for Niekamp to step down as president.“Well, I didn’t have much time to prepare,” explained Niekamp, who has attended hundreds of meetings of both the School Board and Adams County Board. “I need to go through the book (Robert’s Rules of Order) again.”Niekamp said afterward that he didn’t expect to hold the president’s post for very long.“I’m sure the rest of the board” will figure out a way to oust him, he said.The first meeting was called by Niekamp, who became president after Glenn Bemis resigned last week. Niekamp had been board vice president. The second meeting was called by School Board members Tom Dickerson, Steven Krause and Bemis after Bemis made his resignation announcement Monday morning.Only five of the seven board members were in attendance at the start of the first meeting, but Krause showed up for the last 30 minutes. Jeff Mays joined the second meeting via speaker phone.After Regional Superintendent Ray Scheiter opened the meeting as the first speaker, Niekamp called Dennis Gorman, counsel for the district, to the podium and asked him to provide an explanation to a series of questions Niekamp e-mailed Gorman earlier this week.Gorman noted it was the first time in 27 years of representing the School Board that he had been called to the podium. He then opted not to answer the questions but said he would do so if directed to by the board. He also asked Niekamp if he had written the e-mails that he sent Gorman this week.“I don’t let nobody do my thinking for me,” Niekamp replied.Niekamp was not happy that a board meeting had been called for without giving him “due notice,” but Gorman explained that three board members can call a special meeting without his permission.Bemis asked to speak while Gorman and Niekamp were debating, but Niekamp refused. Bemis recoiled and smiled.After a few more contentious comments, Niekamp said that “it looks like we’re not going to get anywhere,” and Gorman sat down.When Bemis tried to speak again, Niekamp pounded his makeshift gavel he made from a claw hammer and ruled him out of order. Dickerson then tried to speak, and Niekamp ruled him out of order. Moments later, Lovelace tried to speak, and Niekamp ruled him out of order.Superintendent Lonny Lemon walked over to Niekamp and spoke quietly, informing him that an “out of order rule” required a second and a vote. The board voted not to support the ruling, with Niekamp voting not to support the ruling, either.After a series of citizens spoke to the School Board, Niekamp made a motion to nominate himself for election as board president, but Daniels told him that wasn’t necessary because board policy dictated that he automatically became president when Bemis resigned.During the second meeting, Niekamp then tried to make another motion to nominate himself as president of the board. Gorman again reminded Niekamp that the motion was unnecessary and that a vote only would be needed if Niekamp resigned as the president. Lovelace, Krause, Daniels and Bemis all said they would not vote for Niekamp as president if there was a ballot.Niekamp answered, “Then I won’t resign.” Niekamp initially refused to call the second meeting to order, but Dennis Gorman, counsel for the district, advised him that as president, it was his duty to preside over the meeting or allow for a temporary chairman to run it. “If you allow this meeting to start, nothing bad is going to happen to you,” Lovelace said. Niekamp then allowed for the meeting to begin and said, “I’m taking you at your word.” In both meetings, Niekamp opened the floor to anyone who wanted to speak and for as long as they wished “to vent their flustration.” Speakers at board meetings are typically limited to three minutes, and only a few speakers on Thursday spoke longer.Many of the speakers questioned Niekamp’s ability to lead the school district after it was obvious that he was not prepared to lead Thursday’s meetings.Audience member Krys Eversden Duesterhaus asked Niekamp how the board would move forward when Niekamp didn’t have the support of the rest of the board. He replied, “That’s their problem, not mine.”Duesterhaus said that if she knew that board members didn’t have faith in her if she was the president, then she would step down. “Then you’re a quitter,” Niekamp said.“There ain’t nothing I can do” to gain the support of the rest of the board, Niekamp said afterward. “The people in the community will judge them. If they don’t want to get along and get by with less money … I can’t do nothing about it.”Niekamp said his presidency represented an opportunity for change.“Do we want to keep doing business as usual? Floating bonds and passing backdoor referendums?” he asked.Some Board members likened the meeting to something unpleasant that had to be done.“We have to respect the fact that he’s president and continue to do what I think the board’s job is, to move forward and make the School District better,” Krause said. “And let the rest of it take care of itself.”Lovelace said it was clear the board was not out to “railroad” Niekamp. He said he was not surprised by Niekamp’s unfamiliarity with procedure.“We’re all trying to go through this the best way we can,” he said. “I think the 4 o’clock meeting was totally unnecessary.”— hwagner@whig.com/221-3374 http://qui.live.mediaspanonline.com/new_story/First-meeting-Update