Candidate Updates From Linda Thomas Blog
Here are the Seattle School Board candidates who filed for office Monday, June 4th:
Director District No. 1
Peter Maier
Director District No. 2
Patrick Kelley
Lisa Stuebing
Director District No. 3
No candidates have filed for this position as of the last update. :(
Director District No. 6
Steve Sundquist
Danaher M. Dempsey Jr.
I'm not sure who Mr. Kelley is; anybody? You can Google his name but it's pretty common so I can't be sure. Mr. Dempsey is a math teacher at West Seattle high School and is on the state Board of Education math advisory panel. Good for both of them for stepping up. Sally Soriano, Sherry Carr and Harium Martin-Morris have yet to file although they have announced that they are running.
Linda is generously offering each candidate a day at her blog to post information about themselves. Lisa Stuebing was first up yesterday and Sherry Carr is there today. I thought Lisa was clear in her focus and she has been one of the few people talking about the graduation rate in SPS. She offered this draft document from her website:
"In 2005, my organization, Budget Logic, drafted an 8-Point position paper outlining a sensible and sustainable financial plan for Seattle Public Schools."
I read it and posted at the blog that while it makes some good points there isn't an explanation of how to pay for some things (like overseeing evening and weekend rentals of school buildings), there's a factual error (it talks about the lease for Queen Anne High which is no longer district property) and seems to be poorly written with spelling, grammar and style errors. I posted that I was surprised, even for a draft document, that it would not have been edited. Lisa posted back that it was a 2-year old draft document and hasn't been rewritten. Odd for a candidate to put out a document that lays out a plan for the district and yet contains many errors.
Comments
David Blomstrom has filed for Position 3. Mr. Blomstrom is a former teacher and long-time critic of Seattle Public Schools.
Patrick Kelley works for United Way King County as the Volunteer Initiatives Manager.
Two additions:
Sally Soriano has filed in District I
Maria Ramirez has filed in District VI.
Ms Ramirez is the third candidate in District VI (West Seattle) so there will be a primary election there. In the primary, only voters in that Director District will vote and the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election.