BEACON FALLS — Two weeks after winning his first term on the Region 16 Board of Education, Democrat James Huk resigned from the volunteer board due to an unexpected job opportunity.
Huk, 50, works for UBS, a financial services company. In an email to the Citizen’s News, Huk said he was offered a new position at the company last week that he couldn’t pass up. The new role requires more travel and work, he said. He intended to try to balance the new position with serving on the school board but would have to miss the first two board meetings of his term in December, he said.
“Beacon Falls doesn’t need an absentee representative, and it would be unfair for me to maintain my seat while not dedicating my full attention to it. Knowing this, the best thing for me to do was step down so that the town could find someone as soon as possible, particularly as the budget season begins heating up,” Huk said. “If I had any idea that this opportunity would have become available, I would not have volunteered to run in the first place. It was completely unexpected.”
Huk served on the Board of Finance prior to winning a school board seat at the Nov. 7 election. He resigned from the finance board after the election. Huk and incumbent Christine Arnold, a Republican, won the two seats on the school board up for election over Democrat Erik Dey.
Town Clerk Len Green Sr. said the vacancy on the school board will be filled at a town meeting. Candidates for the vacancy don’t have to be a Democrat, he said.
During the town meeting, nominations are open for candidates. Once the nominations are closed, a vote is held to choose the winning candidate.
First Selectman Christopher Bielik, a Democrat, said officials are targeting Dec. 11 — when the Board of Selectman is scheduled to hold its next regular meeting — for the town meeting.
Republican Town Committee Chairman Michael Krenesky, who is also a selectman, first heard of Huk’s resignation when contacted by the Citizen’s News on Monday morning. He said he will look to see if there are any interested candidates.
A message left for Democratic Town Committee Chairman Peter Betkoski, who is also a selectman, seeking comment on possible candidates wasn’t returned.
From a town perspective, Krenesky said that Huk was an integral member of the finance board and would have been a great addition to the school board.
Bielik echoed Krenesky’s sentiments.
“We were excited about the potential of Jim serving on the Board of Education,” said Bielik, adding that he understands it was a hard decision Huk had to make.
Huk thanked those who supported him for the school board, adding he intends to volunteer again if his circumstances change in the future.
“I was looking forward to this,” said Huk about serving on the school board. “We need to maintain vigilance over our school administration to ensure they not only serve the best interest of the students but those that pay taxes to educate them, and multiple years of excessive budget overruns indicate to me that that pressure is either not being applied by the Board of Ed or is not being received by the current administration.”
