Times' Wrap-Up of Last Night's School Board Candidate Forum
This article by the Times' Emily Heffter appeared in today's Times. I did not attend. Did anyone go and if so, what were your impressions?
Tuesday Open Thread
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Comments
CR was good, though. He is tough but fair, and often asks the follow-up questions that you would if you had the mike, or if the candidate were sitting in your living room.
The event was well-done all the way around - except - is it possible to attend ONE event in the Stanford Center auditorium where the sound is clear AND the mikes work? Can someone not thoroughly test the mikes and change the batteries - or can the district not spend a couple thousand dollars and fix the works? It's unbelievable - if you're not trying to hear through the static (thankfully not last night), the speakers are passing the mikes around like hot potatos trying to find one that works, then having it cut out multiple times in their speech.
Don't want to give you the highlights because at this point I'm too biased and it wouldn't really be fair to all of the candidates. All did reasonably well in showcasing their strengths (and vulnerabilities.)
Someone said it was televised live last night - so I'm sure it will be on the seattlechannel website soon and you can see for yourself!
Her story was pretty uninformative but my criticism of her blog was undeserved.