Woodruff frustrated as school board appointments continue without District 2 representation

When Russellville City Council District 5 Councilman Jamie Harris nominated Radford Hester for reappointment to the Russellville City Schools Board of Education at the council’s September 21st meeting, it wasn’t unanimous, a rarity with board appointments made by the council.

Hester was reappointed to serve another five-year term by a 4-1 vote, with District 2 Councilman Darren Woodruff casting the lone no vote, and Harris, District 1 Councilman David Palmer, District 3 Councilman Gary Cummings and District 4 Councilman Lonnie Freeman voting in favor. Mayor David Grissom was absent from the September 21st meeting and did not vote.

Woodruff, who voted for Hester when he was appointed in 2021, said his vote had nothing to do with the job Hester’s done on the board.

Instead, he explained, it was the culmination of six years of frustration in not having a District 2 representative on the RCS Board of Education, something he campaigned on when first elected in 2020.

“I was elected by District 2 citizens to represent District 2 and appoint District 2 citizens to city boards. I have publicly said that all districts should be represented on every board,” Woodruff said. “District 2 has never had a school board member to the best of my knowledge. 

“I will not make another vote for any school board appointment unless it’s a District 2 resident. It’s strange when this came up in 2021, there were councilmen then who publicly stated they believed every district should be represented on every board including the school board,” he added.

Woodruff was referencing Harris’ nomination of Hester in 2021 to replace RCS Board of Education member Bret Gist, a District 4 resident.

Harris’ District 5 did not have a representative on the Board of Education, and Harris said at the time he appreciated Gist’s 10 years on the board as he explained his reason for nominating Hester.

“I was elected by the people of District 5 to represent them and we have not had a school board member from our district in more than a decade,” Harris said at the council’s December 6, 2021, meeting.

Hester’s 2021 appointment was approved by a 5-1 vote, with Cummings casting the lone no vote.

Hester remains the lone District 5 resident on the school board, joining District 3 resident Ike Rogers, District 4 resident Howard Hillman, Jr., and District 1 residents Greg Trapp and Kim Clonts.

Harris declined to comment on Woodruff’s ‘no’ vote or the reasons Woodruff had for casting it.

“I really don’t want to get into all that. My appointment was up again and I made a motion to reappoint Mr. Hester,” Harris said. “I think he’s done a great job serving on the school board and he’s represented District 5 and our school system very well.

“He brings 40-plus years’ experience to the board having served at many levels of education and that’s a big plus as well,” he added.

Trapp and Clonts were reappointed at the council’s October 20, 2025, meeting, with Woodruff making the motion to reappoint them for another five years.

“District Two is still working to appoint a representative on the school board,” Woodruff said after that meeting. “At this time, with the tenure of the current board members, for the good of our school system and the good of the board, I agreed to support the experienced board members for another term.”

When Hester’s reappointment appeared on the council’s September 21st agenda, that’s when the District 2 Councilman decided he needed to stand up for the people of his district by not supporting any more Russellville City Schools Board of Education appointments as long as his district remains unrepresented.

There is nothing in the City of Russellville’s municipal code requiring all five districts to be represented on all boards, but that is the case for the overwhelming majority of other city boards, including the Russellville Water and Sewer Board, the Russellville Gas Board, the Russellville Civil Service Board and the Russellville Electric Board.

Those four boards, along with the Board of Education, are the only city boards that are paid appointments. All other city boards are filled by volunteers.