It took Mountain View Whisman's school board less than five minutes and no discussion at a Dec. 7 meeting to pick its leaders for the coming year, a quick conclusion to a process that has prompted persistent disagreements among trustees.

The board members voted to elect Devon Conley as president, Chris Chiang as vice president and Laura Blakely as clerk. All three votes were 4-0, with Bill Lambert abstaining from each one.

Lambert has previously objected to the board passing over members for leadership positions, and instead advocated for a rotation system in which each trustee gets the chance to be president during their four-year term. He has particularly objected to the board neglecting to give Chiang a leadership position.

This will be Chiang's first time in leadership during his current term (he served as president in 2015). Because his term expires next year, it is unlikely he will serve as president unless re-elected.

During Thursday's meeting, Lambert didn't explain his reasoning for abstaining from the leadership votes, but confirmed in an email to the Voice that it was based on the objections he'd previously raised.

Chiang has also spoken in favor of a rotation system and having everyone serve in leadership. At the prior meeting on Nov. 16, Chiang said that he would support Conley assuming the presidency as part of that rotation, since she was the current vice president.

The board held an initial discussion of who to select as its officers at the Nov. 16 meeting, with the trustees generally indicating support for Conley as president, Chiang as vice president and Blakely as clerk. The board then formalized those picks at last week's meeting.

In recent years, the board has sometimes (but not always) rotated its officers. The board president is in charge of leading meetings, as well as working with the superintendent to create agendas for meetings, which gives them influence over determining the topics the board considers. The president also often acts as a spokesperson for the board.

Controversy first surfaced a year ago over how the board chooses its leaders, with Lambert and Chiang objecting to the board picking Conley for vice president over Chiang. Conley had previously been vice president in 2020 and president in 2021. Laura Ramirez Berman, Blakely and Conley all voted for Conley to take the No. 2 post.

At that same meeting last December, the board picked Berman for president and Lambert for clerk.

The disagreement resurfaced last month when Lambert put forward a resolution at a Nov. 2 meeting that would have amended the board's bylaws to formalize a rotation. The proposal failed to advance, with Berman, Blakely and Conley opposed.

At the Nov. 16 meeting, it was once again clear that there were internal disagreements on the board, with Lambert saying that he wouldn't serve in a leadership position until the board chooses its leaders in a way that allows every trustee the chance to be president. Blakely disagreed with the idea of a formal rotation, advocating instead for the board to pick whomever it feels would be best for the job.

At last week's meeting, none of the board members offered any comments as they took votes on the new leadership, opting instead to move forward on the nominees discussed last month.