Well, Speed/R-Five and Christine have gone public with their preferences.
Speed/R-Five: Patsy Green, Linda Johnson, Tom Walsh, Richard Brynteson
Christine: Mark Bomchill, Richard Bryteson, Tom Walsh, Sue Stavenau
Here are my current choices...
G2A: Tom Walsh, Linda Johnson, Richard Brynteson, Jim Oathout(?) (Changed to Sue Stavenau when filling in the oval... See Election Day Coverage for more info)
Rationale: Tom and Linda are solid, experienced and listen to all views. Patsy is just too liberal for my tastes. (Her efforts and experience would be great if focused exclusively on the LAC. ) Other than his aversion to tests, Richard and I seem to agree on taking a pragmatic balanced view.(and he takes a position, which is refreshing...) Jim would provide a somewhat contrarian viewpoint on the board and hopefully limit "group think" from just happening. (ie devil's advocate) Besides he gives the NE area a voice and may increase the district's credibility with those citizens.
So who do you support and why? Let's get over the 10 contributor mark this time !!!!
Candidates name and Info Link
Darlene Baker, Mark Bomchill, Richard Brynteson, Patsy Green, Linda Johnson, Jim Oathout, Andrew Richter, Beth Sharpe, Sue Stavenau, Tom Walsh, Brian Zirbes
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
It has come up on Mark Bonchill's official Facebook page that he has some pretty disturbing ideas about science and how it should be taught in our schools. How did a candidate that wants creationism taught as a scientific alternative to Evolution get endorsed by a teacher's union?!?
Please try to stay focused on who you support and why... I am concerned if we go too deep into who we disagree with and their faults, I may need to learn how to moderate comments...
As for Mark's beliefs, he stated and defended them. Now it will be interesting to see if it wins or costs him votes... Remember there are a lot of believers from many different religions out there that believe in some form of "creation" event. (some are even Teachers...)
Like a lot of voters out there, I am currently undecided about who I should cast my fourth vote for. I have met Mark, I like Mark, and he is one of the two candidates I am now seriously considering voting for.
Anonymous, I think, has raised valid concerns. The teaching of creationism and/or evolution in schools is a completely legitimate issue having to do with curriculum should anyone choose to raise it. If Mark raised the issue, I would like to know what his thoughts on the subject are. If he did share those thoughts on his facebook page, and they are no longer there, I would like to know that to, and I would like to know why they were taken down.
At the moment I am undecided on that fourth vote, and I would really like to make my decision based on what Mark has to say for himself candidly on his facebook page, not on the basis of secondhand reports of what may or may not have once appeared there.
I don't keep daily tabs on Mark's Facebook page, but I've talked to him extensively about why he's running and that never came up.
Mark has put aside what happened last year, though he fully understands its consequences and what problems remain to be solved. He doesn't have all the answers, but he's honest and will listen. He really wants to make the school district a better place, so people like me don't take their kids and run.
And I think I may now be leaning towards Darlene Baker as my fourth candidate.
A lot of people I know are struggling with that fourth vote.
Fact update: The how to handle evolution / creationism blog string was there and now it is gone. (I read it)
Opinion: Blogs are fun and a good way to share ideas. However, they are nearly impossible to hold a productive discussion in a situation like this. I think Mark tried and things got twisted. Now he probably needs to manage this somehow. As I know better than anyone, the virtual and real worlds sometimes collide due to the sensitivities of the readers.
At this point, I am not interested in a discussion of the evolution creationism issue. But if Mark did discuss the issue, it's in play. He now has the opportunity to say or not say what he wants, and then it will be up to the voters to make their decisions accordingly.
I have no problem at all in voting for school board candidates whom I may disagree with on various issues. But speaking strictly for myself, I will not vote for any candidate whom I feel is not being candid with me concerning his or her views on issues relevant to schools.
What I said was that we should teach evolution as the accepted theory and let kids know that there are other theories and refer them back to their folks. Him and his buddy got to inappropriate that I just deleted the post and blocked them
Mark Bomchill
Thank you, Mark.
Now that the fun is over. Let's get back to "Who do you support and why?"
With this little controversy it is likely this post will be hit hundreds of times in the next couple of days. So do your candidate some good by helping folks see why you believe in them...
If I want to see what is wrong with the world, I'll turn on the news. Let's see if we can focus on what is right with the candidates... Please show your displeasure and disagreement by not voting for them...
I don't think it is necessary to vote for 4 at the polls, is it? If a voter wants to vote for 3 or less I think that is OK. Or am I wrong about that?
I think I will vote for Tom Walsh, Richard Brynteson, Linda Johnson and I don't know who else.
Sue,
I am not sure, however your logic makes sense. Unfortunately, every vote you don't make is a vote for the other candidates.
From what I can tell, Patsy is on one end and Jim/Andrew are on the other end of the continuum. Most of the others somewhere between, with leanings more toward Patsy's end. Two others that interested me were Sue and Darlene.
Good luck making the decision !!!
Yes, you can vote for less than four. It depends on what your intentions are. If you really want to get a certain person elected, you might want to vote for only that person. If you really want candidate A, and you also vote for B, and B beats A by one vote, you cost your candidate the election. Unlikely, but possible.
I'm definitely voting for four people. I'd like to see some fresh faces on the board to go along with our new superintendent. Because incumbents have a natural advantage, the others will need all the votes they can get to overtake them.
It really would have been nice to have had a primary, but oh well.
Since no one seems to be in the endorsing mood, here is an interesting thought...
Who will take the time to vote tomorrow? And what will motivate their selections? Here are my thoughts:
- Retirees and the unemployed who are looking for something to do on a nice Tuesday in MN. May be biased towards candidates that promise "No New Taxes !!!", since they are short on cash.
- RAS Parents, Teachers and staff that are concerned that the "No New Tax" folks will decimate the district by cutting the programs that are keeping some families from fleeing.
- RAS citizens that are frustrated with the school closures, the operating levy and "those board members". They just want a change, good or bad.
- Good citizens that vote just because "they are supposed to vote", whether they understand the issues or not. Probably influenced by name recognition and the Teacher's endorsement. (ie for or against)
My guess is that the election will not be decided by who you vote for, but who shows up en masse to vote in this off year.
Thoughts?
Agreed on the voting demographics. The real question is in an off year with only this one issue on the ballot - what percentage of people will vote tomorrow?
DJ
My number in the pool would be about 10% of registered voters. Let's say ~7,000 voters. I hope I am terribly low. Well, the upside is you have 100% of the most likely to blog demographic... Too bad there aren't more of us. Good Luck tomorrow !!!
Hi John,
You can change my fourth candidate to Sue Stavenau!
Done as requested !!! Have a great day and remember to vote !!!
Post a Comment