The Buffalo Board of Ed has decided to conduct its interviews of East District candidates in open session, as we report in today's story.
Score one for open government.
The interviews, scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, will mark the first time in the board's history that the board has complied with the state law that requires such interviews to be conducted in public.
The session seemed likely to make board history for a second reason: Florence Johnson, who is out of town, was going to use Skype to participate in the interviews.
But early this week, that possibility fell through.
Johnson's laptop doesn't have a camera to enable her to use Skype, and neither does the computer at her hotel, according to Chris Jacobs, who is overseeing the interview process as vice president of executive affairs. So Johnson will still be able to participate in the interviews, but only by phone.
State law prohibits board members from voting by phone, so if the board decides to appoint someone on Thursday, it will be without Johnson's vote. Otherwise, the board will need to wait until after she returns Jan. 20 to get all eight members to vote.
- Mary Pasciak
E-mail me at mpasciak@buffnews.com or follow me on 
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