Update: Video and poll added
Melvin "Bud" Niekamp
 / KHQA file photo
QUINCY, ILL. -- UPDATED: April 21 at 8:35 a.m.
Video and poll added.
What do you think about the Bud Niekamp on the board off the board madness of the evening? Do you understand what transpired? Please leave your comments below or go to our Facebook page to join the conversation.
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UPDATED: April 21 at 1 a.m.
An almost 2-year saga came to a close Wednesday night at the Quincy School Board.
The board held a special meeting following its regularly scheduled meeting to discuss and decide what to do with one of Bud Niekamp's seats.
Discussion was heated as board members and legal counsel debated how to proceed
Niekamp stepped down as Quincy School Board President and Tom Dickerson stepped into that seat to call a vote ... allowing the remaining board members to vote 4 to 3 to remove Niekamp from his 2-year term. Dickerson then resigned as president as debate ensued. The school board then voted to put Dickerson back on the board for a two year term.
Dickerson said, "I'll do the best that I can for the voters and to work with others and hopefully the board can put the past behind us. We can just move forward and try to focus on what we need to be focused on, which is the education of our students."
The four people who won board seats in the recent election were seated ... Scott Stone, Stephanie Erwin, Bud Niekamp and Jeff Mays. The board then elected Bill Daniels as president and Steven Krause as vice president.
Daniels said, "All seven of us are in this together for the next two years for better or for worse. I certainly hope it's for the better. I hope we can move forward, collaborate and try to do some good things for the district."
But not everyone was happy with how things went down at Wednesday night's school board meeting.
Mays said, "I definitely am disappointed that the process was so convoluted and engineered to produce the result that it did. I did everything I could to point out where it was flawed. I hope this board doesn't have any new liabilities as a result of this, and I'm going to try to do the best I can to work with the folks on those issues that we can find agreement on."
Niekamp issued a statement at Wednesday night's board meeting.
Click here to see his complete statement.
In other action, the Quincy School Board voted to earmark $420,000 in life safety bonds to begin work to place articicial turf in Flinn Stadium.
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KHQA's Rajah Maples attended Wednesday night's Quincy School Board meeting.
The overwhelming issue of the night discussed in three meetings held back-to-back was double-seated board member Melvin "Bud" Niekamp.
Discussion was heated as board members and legal counsel debated how to proceed.
Bud Niekamp stepped down as Quincy School Board President and Tom Dickerson stepped into that seat to call a vote ... allowing the remaining board members to vote 4 to 3 to remove Niekamp from his term.
Dickerson then resigned from the board as debate ensued.
The school board finally voted to put Tom Dickerson back on the board for a two year term.
In the last meeting of the evening, the four people that won board seats in the recent election were seated ... Scott Stone, Stephanie Erwin, Bud Niekamp and Jeff Mays.
Bud Niekamp has issued a statement following the developments of the evening. We will have that entire statement for you shortly.
Bill Daniels has been selected as President Pro Tem. He will oversee the election of officers. Daniels has also been named the new board president.
We will continue to bring you details and we want to hear from you.
What do you think about the Bud Niekamp on the board off the board madness of the evening? Do you understand what transpired? Please leave your comments below or go to our Facebook page to join the conversation.