CHESAPEAKE — An Ironton attorney has been named to fill the vacancy on the Chesapeake Board of Education.

On Wednesday, Probate Judge David Payne appointed Curtis B. Anderson of Edwards, Klein, Anderson and Shope law office in Ironton to the school board.

Payne cited the attorney’s experience, background and education in explaining why he chose Anderson over the eight candidates the school board had submitted.

Anderson, who is a Chesapeake resident, has been a member of the Lawrence County Bar Association for the past decade, according to the county’s law librarian.

“He has school-age children and his mother was a teacher,” Payne said. “And it also enters in that he is an individual who is not involved with the challenges the board has had at this point that has caused them to not be able to reach a decision.”

The opening occurred when then-school board president Bill Pratt was named by the Republican Central Committee to replace Jason Stephens as a Lawrence County Commissioner. Stephens was elected county auditor in the November general election and took office in March. Pratt took over as commissioner the next month.

At that time the school board received applications from eight candidates interested in replacing Pratt. They were Jerry Frye, Alex Martin, Doug Marcum, Kenneth Wolfe, Charles Oldaker Jr. Douglas Ridenour, Larry Hamlin and Jeffrey Scott Combs.

However in a special meeting on April 26, the board deadlocked in a two-to-two vote with Dr. Mike Dyer and Dr. Kim Oxley supporting Alex Martin, an audiologist with King’s Daughters Medical Center. Jerry Osborne and David Bennett wanted Jerry Frye, a CSX employee.

That meant the probate judge would have to pick Pratt’s successor, according to the Ohio Revised Code.

Payne had been given “a lot of good names,” he said. “(Anderson) provides me with an option in one sense (of providing) a neutral perspective. He will go to the board looking for the best interest of the school and the children.”

Dyer called the selection “the fairest pick.”

“It is an unknown for the people of Chesapeake, but it might be an objective neutral person,” he said. “It was a wise choice from Judge Payne. Someone who could make decisions without a political agenda.”

Oxley also supported the choice of Anderson.

“That is good news,” she said. “He is a nice guy. I wouldn’t have any problem at all. We are looking forward to working with someone who will do good things for the district.”

However, Osborne questioned why Payne did not select someone from the slate of candidates who wanted the appointment.

“Right now I don’t know the gentleman,” Osborne said. “In respect to Judge Payne, I don’t understand. We submitted a list of people who had turned in papers to be considered. This gentleman wasn’t even involved. I respect Judge Payne as a judge and person, but I don’t know. We went through a process we thought were the two best candidates between us. … I don’t know how this came about. … I don’t know him, any background on him or his thoughts on the community. I couldn’t comment about the gentleman.”

The appointment will be for the remainder of the calendar year. The seat will then go on the November ballot. It is Payne’s understanding that Anderson is not interested in running in the fall.

“So I am not in a position of looking as if I’m endorsing a candidate,” Payne said. “I think he will fill a void until the people of Chesapeake can elect and get seated an individual.”

Right now Marcum, Martin and Frye have picked up petitions to run for the school board in the November election that will determine four of the five seats. The terms of Dyer, Oxley and Bennett are also up.

A call made to Anderson’s law office was not returned by press time.