By HOLLY WAGNER
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

The Quincy School Board stripped President Melvin "Bud" Niekamp of most of his duties as president after he declined to resign Wednesday night during a meeting that was remarkable for its civility.

Niekamp will retain the duties that are the president's by state law, but Vice President Tom Dickerson will assume the rest.

"They didn't do anything that they haven't already done before," Niekamp said after the meeting. "I don't have to work so hard now."

The board voted 6-1 to adopt the resolution regarding the president's duties and permitting the superintendent to choose not to respond to the president's e-mails.

"I think the board spoke and took action where it thought it needed to," Dickerson said.

Niekamp announced his intention not to resign in a letter board secretary Phyllis Stewart read at the beginning of the meeting. Niekamp asked the board to vote on his submitting the letter to Stewart because "I want this official," even though other board members explained that no vote was necessary.

"If you just want to deliver a letter, you can deliver a letter," Bill Daniels said. "How can we vote on a letter when we don't even know what it is?"

"You're always nitpicking on me all the time, so this time, if you want me to deliver it, I will, and if you don't want me to, I won't," Niekamp said. "It's up to you."

Daniels passed on the motion and Dickerson voted no. The rest voted to allow Niekamp to deliver the letter to Stewart.

The letter said he would not resign as president nor would he step down from the School Board.

"I hope this will put an end to my decision so we can all get back to the business of operating this School District for the benefit of all taxpayers, parents, students and staff, without all the turmoil," the letter read.

The School Board has been mired in controversy since Glenn Bemis resigned as president in June and Niekamp assumed the presidency.

Niekamp pitted himself against the rest of the board when they called a special meeting to elect a new vice president and he called his own special meeting first. The July sessions drew a large and angry crowd, many of whom called for Niekamp's resignation and others who spoke in his support.

By mid-July, the board made its first offer to Niekamp to resign from the board and be reappointed. He would not be reseated as president, but his resignation would resolve a suit currently in court over the legality of his seat.

Niekamp was serving on the County Board at the time he was elected to the School Board in April, contrary to an opinion by the attorney general that the two posts are incompatible. Judge Diane Lagoski will consider the case in court Monday.

The other six members of the board repeated the resignation offer Friday, saying that Niekamp would be stripped of his duties if he declined to resign.

"If I I took their offer ... I just can't do that to people," Niekamp said. "I told them I wouldn't step off and I'm going to keep my word. Can you imagine how people would feel if I would have dropped off? They'd be so upset with me. I just can't do that to people.

"I'm in a position now where I can do more good. I'm still the president of the board and they can't take that away from me. I'm a lot more effective now than I was as a board member. No matter what they say they're still going to have to convey information to me that I wouldn't have got as a sitting member."

The issue had come to a head after the November board meeting when board member Curtis Lovelace's wife was hired for a cafeteria job at a pay rate of $10 an hour to start.

Niekamp said he had heard that someone else was equally qualified, and he asked Superintendent Lonny Lemon to provide details on the hiring. Lemon refused, saying that the hiring was a personnel matter.

"I don't think the people elected me to look the other way when something like this happens," Niekamp said in a letter to the media Friday.

Jeff Kerkhoff addressed the board Wednesday, citing Illinois School Law on school board members' interest in contracts, accusing the board of conflict of interest. Board member Dr. Steve Krause responded, saying that the law is unclear since it also says boards may not discriminate against spouses.

"My vote went more because it is the job of the superintendent to tell me if the hiring practices follow what we deem to be acceptable in this district. And I trust his judgment," Krause said.

-- hwagner@whig.com/221-3374