By Hamilton Richardson
Elmore/Autauga News
As a retired Chief Financial Officer with many years of business experience, as well as a lot of time spent in the school system, Prattville resident Wayne Lambert is celebrating the results of his run for Autauga County Board of Education in the county’s recent Primary election and also preparing for a runoff in June.
In the Primary, Lambert came in with 35-percent of the vote while his competitor Kim Crockett nabbed the top spot at 45-percent. The incumbent Jim Manderson pulled in 17-percent and Jonathan Jett held onto three-percent of the vote. Lambert and Crocket will go against each other in the June 21st run-off.
“I decided to run for the school board because as a citizen of Autauga County, I have a vested interest in our educational system,” Lambert said. “I have had family attending and working in the school system for the past 35 years, and I will bring an enormous amount of perspective and experience. As a grandfather of five that are currently in the county school system, I want to ensure that my grandchildren and all students have the best educational opportunities to allow them to pursue higher education learning, trade certification or be employable in our society upon their graduation.”
Lambert, who graduated from the school system, said his business experience will benefit the board should he win the runoff against Crockett.
“Ultimately the Board is a business and as a retired Chief Financial Officer with over 43 years of fiscal experience, I am committed to securing and responsibly executing the necessary resources to benefit our children and make sure they are career and college ready,” he said.
The Prattville man has years of experience in the community serving on the Autauga County Habitat for Humanity Board, as a Leadership Autauga participant and he has co-chaired and chaired the Leadership Autauga program. He is currently on the Autauga/Prattville Library Board and has served on various boards at Prattville First United Methodist, where he is currently the Finance Chairperson.
As far as priorities upon entering office, the former CFO said student safety, fiscal responsibility, and student achievement are foremost in his mind.
“Our top priority must be maintaining a safe school environment for all students and employees of Autauga County Schools,” Lambert explained. “I am proposing that we review current policies and procedures, as well as work with state and local partners to make certain we are doing everything necessary to keep our schools safe. Our children are our most valuable resource, and it is imperative that we protect them and provide them a safe learning environment, as well as our employees. I would have safety procedures reviewed with our local law enforcement on a quarterly basis also.”
As far as the fiscal side of things, Lambert commented, “I believe our biggest challenge will be to look internally and make sure that we are doing everything in our power to make existing procedures better and more efficient. I want to guarantee that we have a healthy balance sheet to sustain current operations during these tumultuous times. We need to look at our ability to finance debt to get the lowest possible rates and responsibly secure resources. We have incredibly talented employees throughout our system, and we need to make sure that we are utilizing them in the most effective way possible to benefit our kids.”
Looking back on his election experience, Lambert said that running for the school board has been a great experience.
“I am not a politician so I’ve had to learn a lot in a short amount of time,” he said. “I have a strong desire to serve my community and make our system more beneficial to our children. I have enjoyed speaking to the citizens of our county and sharing my ideas to address their concerns. Communication is such a huge part of this position and I look forward to working with all members of our community and developing that partnership. We need leaders who have the experience to make an already great system even better.”
Members of the community, the candidate said, as well as family members have come together to support his candidacy.
“I am so thankful and humbled by everyone who has shown me support since I entered the race,” stated Lambert. “I am also encouraged by the community’s demonstrated desire to see a competitive and healthy school system. Our family has always been a supportive unit. As I told them from the very beginning, our campaign will focus on positive change that can support our community. It has been amazing to watch my family take an active role in my campaign and walk door-to-door, talk to people and to learn more about the democratic process. Hopefully, I can instill servitude in my grandchildren, as my parents instilled in me.”
With the June 21 runoff around the corner, Lambert feels hopeful.
“We have performed exceptionally well with four candidates in the primary, but we’re not finished yet,” he said. “With my accounting background, I have the experience needed to ensure that our schools continue to acquire and allocate the resources that our students need. A healthy school system translates to a thriving and vibrant community.”
