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Politics & Government

Frustrated Williams Runs for School Board

Dan Williams said he would cut administrative salaries to fight declining revenues.

Dan Williams is a familiar face around , where he occasionally gets paid for striping the fields and other odd jobs, but mostly works as a volunteer with the varsity and junior varsity Eagles football teams. He gets the teams' gear together and announces regular season games.

The often outspoken 43-year-old is loyal to the causes he believes in.

“'Semper fidelis'—always faithful—that’s what I am,” said , one late winter morning at his house. “I fought for everyone to have freedom of speech and to vote.” Now the disabled Marine and Desert Storm veteran is asking Brentwood residents to cast their ballots for him: Williams is on the Brentwood Board of Education.
 
“I never thought about running for any political office,” said Williams, who has lived most of his life in Brentwood, and whose father—the late Harry Williams—was a Brentwood alderman for 20 years. But then Dan Williams got mad.
 
He saw red when he learned how much green school superintendents earned in salaries, including Brentwood’s Dr. Charles Penberthy, who earns $216,000 annually, plus benefits.
 
“I decided to run a couple of months ago when I saw a story about the superintendents and their pay,” Williams said. “There were several other things, but the final straw was when our school board president (Keith Rabenberg) and superintendent (Penberthy) didn’t want to go on camera.”
 
Last September, KMOV-4 TV reporter Craig Cheatham tried to obtain an on-camera interview with both Rabenberg and Penberthy. Cheatham questioned the superintendent’s salary for running Brentwood’s 800-student district, when some larger school districts pay superintendents significantly less. Both men declined on-camera interviews and spoke to Cheatham via telephone.

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Rabenberg subsequently sent a two-page email to school parents explaining their action. Rabenberg stated that they “elected not to do an on-camera interview because we assumed the public would not be given an opportunity to view the entire interview.”
 
Williams received the email. He and his wife, April, are the parents of Tywan Brooks, 19, Diontez Edwards, 18, and Amber, 16. Brooks and Edwards are half-brothers who the Williams adopted. Amber Williams and Edwards are presently students at Brentwood High, and Brooks, who graduated in 2010, was the school’s varsity quarterback.
 
“The school board has a lot of folks who have been on it for years,” Williams said. “Experience is good; But after a while you can become complacent and tend to not question things as much.”

Complacency and “rubber stamping” are Williams’ complaints of the present school board, but the main reason he seeks a seat is to promote “more of an open agenda.” Williams cited too many closed meetings. He also found the selection process for the new football coach as troubling. “People need to know more,” he said.
 
So where does Williams stand on the issues? In regard to the financial condition of the school district, which is experiencing a revenue drop, Williams would trim administrative costs.

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“I think there is enough money there, that if restructured, you can have a more productive school district,” he said. He would avoid cutting tutoring programs. He also said the sports programs are “tapped out” and he would try to dedicate more money for them.
 
He is upset by the state of the district’s facilities, particularly the gymnasium at .

“Kids are coming home with spackling in their hair because the ceiling is in need of repair,” he said. He is also concerned about the school’s field. “The field has holes that are 4 to 5 inches deep, and can put kids’ health at risk,” he said.
 
Although he “never attended Harvard or Washington University,” Williams has an idea for generating funds for the district: He wants it to partner with the city of Brentwood.

“We could maybe put in a turf field where the high school football field is and rent it out on weekends to make or produce more revenue,” he said. He also wondered (out loud) about the possibility renting out the high school’s large gymnasium for the city’s summer camp program and other groups.
 
Because he cannot work full time—Williams is bothered by breathing problems since his military discharge and has lingering back problems—he believes he will have more time to devote to the school board than other candidates.

A big guy, he used to weigh 507 pounds and has lost 150 pounds, Williams is walking to restore his health and to win the election by distributing fliers, door-to-door.

“My dad used to say ‘If you don’t like things, then stand up and try to change it.’”

Daniel  Williams
8636 Eulalie Avenue
 
PERSONAL: Age 43. Married to April Williams. They have three children: Tywan Brooks, 19, Diontez Edwards, 18, and Amber, 16. Edwards and Brooks are half-brothers who were adopted by the Williams.
 
OCCUPATION: Part-time coach at St. Louis Basketball Academy. Williams is a Marine and a disabled veteran.
 
EDUCATION: Williams attended Brentwood High School and received his G.E.D. in 1986. He has attended Meramec Community College, the University of Maryland (in Japan) and Kaplan University.
 
RELEVANT  BACKGROUND: Volunteers for the Brentwood High School junior and varsity football and basketball teams. In 2007, Williams received the Best of Brentwood award from the school district.

Editor's note: This is the fifth article in a series of candidate profiles leading up to the April 5 election.

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