Seattle School Board member Peter Maier is citing his opponent's failure to vote in two recent Eastside levy elections as evidence of her "lack of understanding" of the way school districts work.

The challenger, Sharon Peaslee, says she purposely did not vote in the elections to send a message about the importance of listening to community input -the very message that Seattle Public Schools needs to hear now, she says.

Maier made the comments in an interview with The Times last week. Asked why voters should support him over Peaslee, he produced documents showing she did not vote in a February 2010 Bellevue School District levy election when she lived in Bellevue nor in a February 2006 Lake Washington School District levy election when she lived in Sammamish.

"For years, I led levy elections," said Maier, a former president of pro-levy group Scools First. "The record shows that for two levies, my opponent didn't bother to vote."

The missed votes include two operations levies, which fund about 20 percent of districts' general-fund budgets and two capital levies, which pay mostly for building maintenance. Voters approved all four.

Peaslee, a 57-year-old writer and producer who founded an Eastside math tutoring business, classified her non-votes as symbolic.

"Both districts were systematically ignoring parents when we brought serious concerns to the attention of the district," said Peaslee, pivoting to her current race. "In Seattle, I'm working very hard to get the district to be more responsive."

Dissatisfaction with the districts eventually led her to move to Seattle, she added.

The voting record attack supports a theme Maier is trying to make the focus of his campaign - that he has demonstrated his commitment to the district while his opponent just moved to Seattle two years ago. Maier, a 59-year-old attorney who attended Seattle Public Schools, recently produced a television ad, titled "Committed," that emphasizes his Seattle roots and years of fighting for Seattle schools. It doesn't mention Peaslee.

Peaslee has an answer to the "out of town" talking point, too: "I have a more comparative perspective than he does. I've fought ed battles in all three districts. I know what works and what doesn't."