Local Blog Perspective on School Board Race

Publicola had a good take on the Board elections based on Sherry Carr challenger, Kate Martin, who says that some of Sherry's high donors from her last election "own her." 

What is interesting is that these are some of the city's heaviest hitters and Sherry says she doesn't know most of them.   If out of $149k of donations from my campaign, $84k came from 8 couples, I, as a candidate, might want to reach out to those people and meet them.  (I would just feel weird accepting that much money and not even talking to them.)

The article also reports that so far Carr has raised over $9k and Martin $1500.

Update:  I would like to add that Carr had most of her donations in her first election come in under $100 and the trend is continuing in this one.   I suspect that is true for most candidates but it's possible to look it up.

Comments

Anonymous said…
She doesn't need to know the donors to do their bidding. They fund LEV, the Alliance, and STAND's lobbying and advocacy. Astro-Turfers and Gates don't need to introduce themselves to this board in order to get their way. This board knows who it works for. WSEADAWG
Terrence J. Menage Ed.D. said…
I am gladly accepting donations to my campaign; my hopes are to avoid large donations by any group or individual. Be assured that I will make a connection to any and all that donate generously.

Please feel free to visit my website at www.menage4seattlekids.com and learn about our campaign, read my blog and leave a comment if you are so inclined.

Terrence J. Menage, Ed.D.
Citizens United said…
"Be assured that I will make a connection to any and all that donate generously."

Great! So access to Terrence Menage can be bought!
dan dempsey said…
Citizens United that was an uncalled for cheap shot. "Great! So access to Terrence Menage can be bought!"

Menage also wrote:
"my hopes are to avoid large donations by any group or individual."
==============

Please note that Steve Sundquist was all in favor of "Corporate Philanthrophy" when he ran in 2007....

Guess we all found out the hard way what "Corporate Philanthrophy" really means.

Are any of the candiates running against the incubents in favor of "Corporate Philanthropy"?

I sure hope not.

I can confidently say that:
Joy Anderson, Marty McLaren, Kate Martin, and Sharon Peaslee are strongly opposed to the "Corporate Philanthrophy" agenda.

Perhaps others can tell us about the other candidates.
Mark T. Weber said…
Let's see. My brother gave me some money. Some members from my church, individually not as a church, my attorney and friend gave me some money and some guy sitting at the table next my firend and I as we discussed the election gave me $5.00 bucks. Never did get his name though. Darn it. there's a campaign violation, I'm sure.
Mark T. Weber said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
seattle citizen said…
I don't know Mr. Menage, but I somewhat agree with Mr. Dempsey - Citizen United, Mr. Menage DID say he was hoping to avoid large donations. I read this as a reflection on his part on discussions in this blog recently about the influence of big business, big foundations, etc.

I doubt whether my five dollars, if I were to give it to him, would result in him feeling beholden to me as he makes policy, but I WOULD appreciate it if he then took the time to make a connection to me. It's ludicris to state, given Menage's words, that access to him can be bought.
seattle citizen said…
Don't give up, Mark, maybe the voters will surprise you. They surprise the heck outta me sometimes...
Mark T. Weber said…
I went to the 43rd demo meeting last night and came to the realization there is no way on God's green earth I am going to get more than a few hundred votes in the primary. I don’t know these people and they don't know me and have no interest in knowing me. And unfortunately, the average guy on the street just doesn't give a s***. The only people who are going to vote in the primary are those who care enough to. The problem with this is, they only care about their own issue and not about the necessary systems change.

There is a lot of lip service being given to change but when you lay it out on a matrix and start comparing and contrasting, it's all the same. Incumbenet and challenger alike.

So I've decided to take a different tact. I'm going back to my bad-boy days. If I didn't have two artificial knees I'd still be riding my harley but instead I'll stick to my jeep.. Driving up and down the front lawns, painting gariffi on the walls and generally raising hell.. No issue is safe, no candidate is safe. As that great philosopher of the 60s once said, "when you nothin', you got nothin' to lose."
dan dempsey said…
Hey, Game on "Big Time" in the coming election....

Given the new stance at the Times Editorial Board .... it would be fabulous if none of the current four directors make it through the primaries.

Challengers hang in there ...
Terrence J. Menage Ed.D. said…
In an attempt to clarify, my reference to make a connection to any and all that donate generously was to acknowledge and show appreciation. Anyone that actually knows me or reads what I have written should have no question as to my not feeling beholden to anyone or being open to provide any preference or access based upon money donated to my campaign. My focus and work is strictly for what is in the best interest of the students and corporate agendas or interests is not even on the radar.

If I am elected to the Board of Directors for our district, maintaining a connection to ALL of the stakeholders in our public schools will be my approach. Considering all of the problems that face headquarters, it will truly take a sustained effort on the part of all stakeholders in our city to address and resolve the mess. We need to clean up headquarters and provide the necessary resources and support to create powerful learning environments across the city.

I welcome dialogue and feedback from all concerned citizens in our city. My website has a blog I write on as often as possible and we welcome comments, questions and concerns people may wish to share on the site.

Let's remain focused on the issues and pressing needs facing our district, and for the sake of millions of taxpayer dollars and the children let's clean up the headquarters.

Terrence J. Menage, Ed.D.
Terrence J. Menage, Ed.D. said…
Mr. Weber,

First I want to encourage you to maintain the respectful campaign that you have been running and do not give up. More people than you may realize care a lot about this election and I anticipate a higher than usual number of voters will vote.

Second, I disagree that there is not much difference between candidates.

Stay strong and for the sake of the kids fight the good fight.

Terrence
Mark T. Weber said…
Terrence,
I have not given up. I am slightly discouagred by what I see as lip-service by many candidates, exception noted. I see the need for some real change not the shallow and superficial changes I see proposed. I mean tear it down and start over fresh change.

I have two more weeks to go to finish my Masters. I am concurrently finishing and defending my thesis so right now, it is taking priority over everything else.

And what I meant in my earlier post was, I went to the 46th Democrats meeting last Thursday and sat there thinking this is the SOS. Nobody was really interested in making meaningful change, only in getting their person endorsed. I've never been a "joiner" so I had none of my network present and didn't have a group of people working the room.

So I am developing a strategy to reach the average person on the street not the political junkies. I need the vote of the person who usually doesn't go that far down the ballot to vote for the school board.

But thankls for the encouragement.

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