Robert Downey named to vacant MUSD seat

The vacant seat on the Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board has been filled.

Robert H. Downey will join the board after his appointment Friday by Pinal County Superintendent of Schools Jill Broussard.

He will fill the vacancy created when board member Patti Coutre resigned her position in  September to take a position as an administrative assistant in the district’s maintenance department.

Downey, 62, an information technology executive who retired in November 2020, after 20 years with Honeywell, will be sworn in at the board’s Feb. 24 meeting.

A native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Downey emigrated to the United States in 1995 after working with Bombardier Aerospace for 22 years. He said his passion for education was stoked early in life.

“I have been blessed with good teachers, education and extracurricular activities in my life,” said Downey, who moved with his wife Jane to Maricopa in 2017. “Those things motivated me to go on to university and go on to have a really good life and career. If I can do anything to help these kids get some of those same kinds of things, I’ll do anything I can to make that happen.”

Downey said he hopes to be able to reach, even indirectly, some kids who may not stand out in the classroom.

“Throughout my career I’ve always liked finding the diamonds in the rough,” he said. “The ones who were sitting quietly and working hard, but not being noticed. I like taking those people to places they might not believe they can go.”

Downey’s term runs through Dec. 31, 2022, when Coutre’s term would have expired. Downey can seek re-election in November 2022.