"I am in charge," FWISD Super Tom Tocco -- in the best Alexander Haig tradition -- could be heard popping off down at the school administration building. He was only trying to reassure a nervous staff, so Static was told, after the death of Tocco's strongest supporter, 56-year-old school board president Gary Manny, on March 15 of cancer.

Vice-president Christine Moss, of course, is "in charge" until the board decides whether to call a special election or wait until next year's regular cycle to fill Manny's seat, but Tocco probably can be forgiven for such wishful thinking. With three of his lockstep trustees facing serious challengers in the upcoming election on May 4, the school district still under investigation by the FBI, and Manny gone, Tocco may soon face a less friendly bunch of bosses. Who the new head will be is anybody's guess, but the maneuvering for that position -- among board members -- has been going on almost since Manny's diagnosis became known last year. Elaine Klos has made no secret of her lust for the job. But Klos, elected to the board a few years ago as a fire-breathing reformer who was going to stand up, by damn, to the scorched-earth policies of new Super Tom, caved fast and became one of his biggest cheerleaders. And while that doesn't make her any different than anyone else on the board -- with the possible exception of Juan Rangel -- her flip-flop has not endeared her to many of her former backers. For months, Westsider Judy Needham has been quietly lining up financial supporters such as her philanthropist Marty Leonard, to back her campaign for the seat. Rangel is dead serious, he says, about a run for the post -- it's primetime for Hispanic candidates these days. And long-time board critic Debby Stein, who gave Manny a run for his money two years ago in her first bid for the board's top job, has filed for Needham's seat in the May 4 election, on the chance, she said, that Needham will resign to run for the presidency. If Needham doesn't go for the big one, watch for Stein's hat to go into that race. While all this may be giving Tom Terrific ulcers, it sounds like a healthy dose of democracy to Static's ears.