Millay: clueless or crafty? Short-lived Martin County school board bid suggests either

John Millay is a man who moves in mysterious ways.

When Millay abruptly announced plans to resign from his post as superintendent of the Martin County School District last June, there was no obvious reason for his departure. He simply said he wanted to pursue other opportunities to serve the community. He later took a job as senior vice president of Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County .

Which wasn't a huge surprise. Others have left high-profile government positions in favor of less stressful jobs in the private or nonprofit sectors.

Then Millay politically resurfaced, announcing plans April 2 to run for the District 2 school board seat currently held by Marsha Powers.

Did revenge motivate Millay to run?

That seemed a bit more unusual. It isn't often former government administrators try to join the legislative boards that previously oversaw their work.

In Port St. Lucie, Greg Oravec was city manager before serving as a city councilman and mayor, then leaving for a job as Islamorada's village manager . In Stuart, Mike Mortell became city manager after serving as a city commissioner and mayor .

Those are fairly rare cases, though. Millay's candidacy wasn't unprecedented, but it did raise questions about why he was choosing to run against one of his former bosses.

Powers was one of two school board members who voted against hiring Millay in September 2020. From what I've heard, the two may never have had the greatest working relationship after that inauspicious beginning.

Neither Millay nor Powers responded to questions I asked about their feelings toward each other, but revenge seems as likely a motive as any for Millay's decision to enter the race.

Millay withdrew as abruptly as he entered race

In any case, almost immediately after Millay filed his qualifying paperwork, weirdness ensued. The next day, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County put out a statement, distancing itself from Millay's decision.

"As an organization we do not endorse candidates nor engage in political activities," Kathryn Parsons, chair of the organization's board of directors, said in the statement. "Our employee policies do not specifically prohibit a member of our staff from running for office. Nevertheless, we’re informing our entire staff that any political involvement they may choose to engage in must take place outside of work hours and refrain from incorporating BGC facilities, materials or anything that gives even the appearance of an endorsement."

Then less than two weeks later, the Boys & Girls Club sent out another release, announcing Millay's candidacy for the seat was over.

“After consulting with legal advisors we’ve reached the conclusion that this political campaign unnecessarily complicates the wonderful relationship we enjoy with the Martin County School District and distracts from our mission to serve the children of our community in the most impactful ways possible,” Parsons said in the April 12 statement. “We’re thankful to say that we’ve informed Dr. John Millay, a valued member of the BGC family as our senior vice president, of our determination and he has agreed to withdraw his candidacy for public office.”

The April 12 statement described several partnerships between the Boys & Girls Clubs and the school district, which the clubs' leadership felt were too important to be jeopardized with a potential conflict of interests.

Powers' full-time job intersects with school district

Since Millay's withdrawal, the parties involved have clammed up, at least to me. Neither Millay nor the clubs' executive director would respond to questions about why Millay got into or out of the race. Powers wouldn't comment on Millay's candidacy, or discuss any potential conflicts between her duties as a school board member and her full-time job as chief executive officer of the Early Learning Coalition of Indian River, Martin and Okeechobee Counties.

The coalition and school district have a partnership to provide school readiness programming to pre-kindergarten age students. Under the contract , the school district is responsible for providing the services while the coalition provides oversight and assists with various administrative functions.

School district officials contend they provide no funding to the coalition for the contract. It appears the coalition's financial compensation comes directly from state government.

A blunder ... or a political master stroke?

All of which leaves me with three theories about how all this went down.

The first theory is that Millay was so blinded by his dislike for Powers he made the decision to run for her seat without consulting with his employer. Given that Millay is pulling down six figures in his current job and seems like a sensible and pragmatic man, that seems unlikely.

My second theory is Millay discussed his plans with his bosses at the Boys & Girls Clubs ahead of time, but neither he nor they foresaw the backlash they would receive from Powers' supporters, who are also major contributors to the clubs' operations. That seems a bit more plausible, although it's hard to imagine they didn't see that coming.

My third theory ― by far the most outrageous, I'll admit ― is that Millay entered the race, knowing he would have to withdraw, because he wanted to draw attention to the close relationship between the Early Learning Coalition and the school district.

In that scenario, Millay could try to embarrass a former foe without having to go through the trouble and expense of mounting a campaign against her. Sydney Thomas, a parent and education activist who's re-entered the race to challenge Powers since Millay withdrew, could choose to make whatever political hay she might over the coalition's partnership with the district.

At least so far, Thomas isn't doing that.

"I’m thankful that I don’t have to worry about any conflict of interest," Thomas said in a statement. "I have no business or income coming from within Martin County, so I’m not beholden to anyone. My sole focus is doing what i can to ensure all of our Martin County kids get a strong public education and our educators are shown how much value they bring to the district every day."

With either of my first two theories, Millay is politically clueless. With the third, he'd be one of the craftier political tacticians I've ever seen. Absent new information coming to light, we may never know which is closest to the truth.

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay . Contact him via email at bfontenay@gannett.com or at 772-232-5424 .

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Millay: clueless or crafty? Short-lived Martin County school board bid suggests either