gchildress@heraldsun.com; 918-1046
CHAPEL HILL -- Gary Wallach was the second person to file for election to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education.
But last week, he dropped out of the race.
In a rambling letter, Wallach, 66, said he decided to withdraw from the race after considering all of the hard work involved.
Wallach, the parent of a middle-schooler, was a candidate for the school board in 2007, but lost that bid by a little more than 1 percentage point, finishing fourth in a five-way race.
In his letter withdrawing from the 2009 race, Wallach compared running for the school board to deciding to have a second child.
"You loved your first child and after a few years, you forget how hard it was to have him or her," Wallach explained. "You begin to think, wouldn't it be great to have another."
But after awhile, Wallach said, the reality of all of the work required to raise a child begins to set in to bring one back to their senses. And in spite of all of the joy he experienced running for office the first time, Wallach said, he had a similar revelation regarding his candidacy for school board.
"So having remembered the fun part, I decided to throw my hat in the ring once again," Wallach wrote. "Now that I'm experiencing the reality of running again, I decided to rethink my decision."
He went on: "Having said all of this, I am with mixed emotions, taking my hat out of the proverbial ring."
Last December, Wallach sought appointment to the board to replace Pam Hemminger, the former board chairwoman who moved on after winning a seat on the Board of Orange County Commissioners.
Wallach ended his withdrawal letter by endorsing school board candidate Michelle Brownstein.
