Griffin seeks another term on school board

ALBANY — If there is one thing Milton “Junebug” Griffin Jr. knows about running for public office, it’s that name recognition counts.

Griffin, who has served on the Dougherty County School Board for 10 years, said over the years he has been approached by numerous people about why his name wasn’t on the ballot.

“They would call me and ask me if I was running and why my name wasn’t there,” the 61-year-old laughed. “They would say, ‘Milton Griffin, who is that?’ Since everyone knows me as ‘Junebug,’ I’ve had to include that on the ballot.”

Griffin said his motivation behind seeking re-election is to have the opportunity to stay the course and be involved in the outcome of the CRCT erasure investigation.

“I want to be there when the state finds out that we didn’t do anything wrong,” said the former owner of Junebug’s Grocery. “I want to be there to see the end of it and see our teachers and students cleared (from cheating).”

Griffin said if re-elected his main priority will be to reduce Dougherty County class sizes and work to make sure teachers have fewer furlough days.

The long-time board member said he believes the people in his district trust him because he has consistently served them the best he could.

“I’ve always been in the community, and they (my district) have supported me and I think they trust me,” said Griffin. “I haven’t always brought them what they want, but I hope they know that I will go to bat for them.”

Griffin, as well as other members of the Dougherty County School Board, came under fire at the beginning of this year for the controversial vote to accept Joshua Murfree as the new Dougherty County School Superintendent.

In regards to that process and in answer to the question of whther he thought the backlash from his vote to approve Murfree would hurt his election chances, Griffin told a Herald reporter that he still stands by his belief that Murfree was the best candidate.

“We interviewed him, and he was our best candidate,” Griffin said. “We put it up to a vote, and the majority won. I still think we made the right choice.”

Griffin also points out that, to his knowledge, Murfree was never ranked 34th out of 37 applicants by the Georgia School Boards Association — a point which he brought up during a school board meeting in February that fellow board member the Rev. James Bush also acknowledged.

Board Chairman David Maschke said in February in response to Griffin and Bush’s assessment: “The GSBA had three people evaluate each application and gave points to how well they matched what was advertised. (It was) top tier, middle tier and bottom tier. … Applicants were listed alphabetically. I went through all the applications and scoring and did the rankings, and that information was shared in the executive session. So when the board members say ‘Where did this information come from?’ it’s really disingenuous because they know where it came from. I didn’t pass out information but told them in executive session and they know it.”

Despite the obstacles of this year, Griffin, who was first elected to the school board in 2000, said he still wants to serve the parents and students of Dougherty County for another term and has been encouraging everyone to vote.

“If nothing else, I want people to get out and vote,” said the Democratin incumbent. “I just want people to go and vote, and if they vote Junebug that’s great, too. But voting is the most important thing.”