Local & State Headlines

Candidate draws on student days

• An Albany attorney announces his run for the Dougherty County Board of Education.

Barbara Rivera Holmes

OPEN BOE SEATS The Dougherty County Board of Education districts up for re-election this fall are: District 1, held by David Maschke District 3, held by Judge Willie C. Weaver District 5, held by the Rev. James C. Bush At-large, held by Richard H. Anson

ALBANY — Tommy Langstaff’s perspective of the Dougherty County School System is twofold: That of a former student and that of a parent.

An Albany native, Langstaff spent his formative years in Dougherty County’s public schools and is a 1978 graduate of Westover Comprehensive High School.

Today, the attorney’s four children — Lindsey, 16; Pete, 13; Thomas, 11; and Reynolds, 8 — are DCSS students.

“I’m a product of the public school system; it has served me well,” Langstaff said Wednesday. “We’ve had good experiences with our kids.”

After years working on the sidelines of public education, Langstaff now hopes to take a more direct approach to improving the Dougherty County School System: He’s put his name in the ring for the school board.

On Wednesday he shared the motivation behind his run for the at-large seat that longtime board member Richard Anson will vacate next year.

“I do think there are some things we can do as a community, as parents and as taxpayers,” Langstaff said. “If we all agree that the school system is worth it and that it needs help, let’s make it better.”

Langstaff is the first to announce a candidacy for the school board, which has four seats up for re-election this fall.

When Anson heard of Langstaff’s decision, he exclaimed, “Absolutely wonderful.”

“I called him and encouraged him to run,” Anson, who was first elected in 1996, said Wednesday.

“I have served for 12 years, and I’ve tried to serve the best I could. I think it’s time that someone else served as well,” Anson said of not seeking re-election. “I think it would be best for the community if we get someone in there with some fresh new ideas and and who could pursue some of the things that I’ve been trying to pursue, like senior tax relief.”

Although pleased at Langstaff’s run for the board, Anson isn’t endorsing anyone, at least not yet.

“I just want to encourage as many people that I think would make good board members that don’t have an agenda,” he said. “Mr. Langstaff is neutral; he doesn’t have something to gain from it. He’s not trying to push some radical agenda or embarrass somebody in the system.

“I just think with his legal background, he could make a contribution that’s positive.”

To help shape today’s students, Langstaff’s priorities include finding alternative ways to solve old problems as well as finding solutions to new ones.

“Are we listening to the teachers? Are we reacting to what they’re telling us?” he asked. “I just want to know that we’re looking into innovative ideas.”

Langstaff said he also wants students’ academic and extracurricular achievements to be “glamorized” as are athletics, and wants to ensure that students, even those who choose to drop out, have the tools necessary to succeed.

“Lets start preparing these kids for life,” he said.

Langstaff has been involved in his children’s school activities in a variety of ways, including as president of the Parent Teacher Organization at Merry Acres Middle School, where he also was a substitute teacher, and as the coach for the Dougherty Comprehensive High School Mock Trial Team.

“I’m very involved from the outside,” he said. “I think I’m prepared with what they (school board members) deal with on a daily basis.”

Langstaff also is involved in numerous community and professional organizations and since March 1991 has been a part-time instructor at Darton College. In 1991 he also was a part-time instructor at now Albany State University.

Langstaff’s sister was an English teacher at McIntosh Junior High School and his mother, Calista Langstaff, was a math teacher at Albany High School and later served as an appointed member of the Dougherty school board in the 1970s.

Langstaff will officially announce his candidacy today at 11 a.m. at the practice he runs with his brother, Albany City Commissioner Bob Langstaff Jr., and his father, Robert Langstaff.

Also announcing her candidacy for a school board seat is Velvet Edward-Riggins, who will make her official announcement for the District 3 seat held by Judge Willie C. Weaver today at 1:30 p.m. at the Government Center in downtown Albany.

Weaver has announced plans to seek the Dougherty County Superior Court judgeship.

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