After an eight year-duration where he never missed a regular Decatur school board meeting, board member Garrett Goebel attended his last earlier this week. His final official day is December 31, while his replacement James Herndon gets sworn in on Jan. 14. Herndon ran unopposed for Goebel’s seat on Nov. 5.
Goebel had announced his intention to step down back in January. But when it came time for a final statement during the Dec. 12 meeting, he grappled with a rare loss for words, pausing several times to hold back tears.
Known for his rigorous preparation and attention to detail, Goebel said later, “I wasn’t prepared to make that speech. I do enjoy the work, so maybe a part of me wasn’t ready to leave.
“But this job is difficult,” he added. “If you do it a long time I guess there’s a danger you can become set in your ways and the work can become commonplace, and those are things I’ve fought against my whole life.”
Goebel served two terms and was board chair in 2015 and vice chair in 2016. He began serving under former Superintendent Phyllis Edwards and was later part of the board that brought current Superintendent David Dude to Decatur in Nov. 2015. That same month voters approved a $75 million general obligation bond to finance a number of facilities updates and new construction. The bond’s final project, building the Talley Street Upper Elementary, was completed this fall.
On Tuesday, fellow board members presented Goebel with a gift card to Steelmart, a sort of metal lumberyard in Tucker that produces pipes, sheet metal, plates, grating, tubing, structural beams and other items Goebel loves perhaps even more than a spread sheet.
“No one’s ever heard of Steelmart,” Board Member Heather Tell told the audience. “They don’t even sell gift cards, so I just made one up.”
Goebel has taken a deep dive into welding and traditional blacksmithing techniques using coal and coke for about a year. Next summer he also plans helping his son, an Eagle Scout, built a log cabin on north Alabama property owned by his mother.
But Goebel isn’t sure if he’ll ever re-enter public life.
“Speaking selfishly, my family and wife have given up a lot because of my [time on the board],” he said. “Maybe it’s time to do some of those things together we’ve missed out on.”
Indeed, the day after his final meeting Goebel and his wife Georgina boarded a plane for a week-long trip to Ireland.
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