Hale School Board Candidate Forum Tomorrow Night

Nathan Hale Government classes are putting on a student led Election Forum the evening of Thursday, October 15th from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center involving candidates for Seattle School Board and would like to invite you, your friends and your neighbors to attend. Candidates will make short opening statements, respond to questions from students, and then make a short summary statement. Be an informed citizen and attend!

I have now been to four candidate forums and most were not well-attended.  I urge you to attend this one because it has been very interesting to see how the candidates perform under pressure and may be the last one.

I have received my voters guide and I know ballots should be dropping by October 20th.  I'll have a complete write-up of my views of the candidates (based on forums, interviews, etc.)  

The Stranger put out their endorsements yesterday (with their usual flare and turn of phrase). For School Board they endorsed: Jill Geary, Rick Burke, Scott Pinkham and Leslie Harris. 

Of all the questions the Stranger Election Control Board has had to ask itself over these many years—questions like "Is 1:30 p.m. too early to have a drink if you're already stoned?" and "Why does The Stranger conference room have carpet on the walls?" and the perennial "What went so wrong with these people's lives that they want to run for school board?"—we'd never yet had to ask ourselves about pangolins. Until this year.

Interviews by KING-5 of all the candidates.   

Comments

Linh-Co said…
There's a CPPS candidates forum on October 20.

http://cppsofseattle.org/parent-friendly-candidates-forum-oct-20/
Anonymous said…
Maybe they are not will attended because people know who they are voting for already and are not going to change that vote?

That is my case, anyway. And, my vote matches the Stranger endorsement. With the exception of District 1. The endorsed candidate does not seem to me to be the right person for the job. Yes, he does seem to have something to offer, but, he also seems lackadaisical and only running because nobody else was. His opponent seems a bit 'dogmatic'. Yes, that adjective is a euphemism. But, I won't and simply cannot vote for the endorsed District 1 candidate. I may vote for the 'dogmatic' one, if nothing else just to see a board member who will be extremely challenging to the staff whenever they stand before him and haven't done their homework. He seems like the type of guy to give them a tongue lashing. Ever notice that sometimes people who are crazy can also be right sometimes? NOT calling any person crazy, just sharing a personal observation of mine. Besides, if he was elected for District 1, would it be any worse than the current District 1 representation? Or, for that matter, the current District V (hint: Dr. B)?

Anyway, do not necessarily equate a poor showing to the debates with lack of interest or with being uninformed.

Truly uniformed voters do not know these are happening, and, even if they did, they would not come. They may not vote, and if they do, they are just as likely to follow the Stranger's endorsements to a T, which is a pretty good thing.

On the other hand, the informed may not show because, like me, they already know exactly who they are voting for (AND who they are voting AGAINST) and therefore, nothing the candidates can say is going to change that.


Voting Jill/Leslie/Rick
Of course, people who are "crazy" can be right sometimes (a broken clock is right twice a day). That doesn't mean you want them to serve in public office. That doesn't mean you replace one low-performer with a "crazy" person.

You actually DON'T want someone to give any staff person a "tongue-lashing." That's not their role. Their role is oversight and transparency and following policy and then enforcing policy. Yelling has no part to that.

But when I get to my reviews of the forums, I'll have more to say as some candidates have shown their true colors and readers can make their own minds up.
Chris S. said…
Anyone have a take on Gonzalez vs Bradburd for city council? The Stranger gave Bradburd a tongue-lashing but Gonzalez is endorsed by Burgess, bleck.
Anonymous said…
Why doesn't Scott bother to show up at most of the forums? I see he's running on the native thing, but that can go only so far and it's possibly been played out.

JK
Anonymous said…
MW are you calling one of the candidates "cazy". Please be specific for the record.

JK
Anonymous said…
@westbrook, I truly doubt if you really thought Christophersen was "crazy" you would not be running your smear campaign against him. You're shameless and I hope he sues you.

served cold
SeeRightThroughIt said…
Oh look, Michael and all his alternate personalities have showed up in the comments.
Anonymous said…
SeeRightThroughIt said just what I was going to.

-flibber
Anonymous said…
Perhaps we should use "schizophrenic"?

wondering
Anonymous said…
Kind of weird when your moniker shows up, and it's not you. What are the odds of someone using the same initials? Just a coincidence?

signed jk, not JK
I like Bradburd. He is a progressive, willing to listen (I didn't get much from Gonzalez when I tried to engage her at an event) and knows this city. He has my endorsement.

"Native"thing? You mean his heritage as a person? Wow. He hasn't shown up at all forums that is true. You'd have to ask him why.

Voting Jill/Leslie/Rick said (and incoherently so, I don't know what it means):
"Ever notice that sometimes people who are crazy can also be right sometimes? NOT calling any person crazy, just sharing a personal observation of mine."

That's where my quotes use of the word "crazy" comes from.

Served Cold, I mentioned no one at all and neither did Voting so I have no idea who he/she is talking about.

I'll have a complete School Board candidate overview soon. I may only just quote the candidates and say nothing else. I think their words will speak for themselves.
I do urge you to read The Stranger's endorsements. Quite telling.
Anonymous said…
Voting Bradburd. Cares about communities. More likely to understand school issues in that context than Gonzalez. Plus, anyone endorsed by Burgess is a no-go in my book. Burgess = not a friend to SPS and a charter supporter too.

NoCharters
mirmac1 said…
I don't trust Lorena Gonzalez. Figure she'll be Burgess' patsy and on Triad's speed dail.
Anonymous said…
Agree on Yes for Bradburd - he aligns much better with most of The Stranger's other council endorsements than Gonzalez. Have heard them debate a couple of times and he is much more knowledgeable on the issues than she is. Also better on schools (and has skin in the game with 2 kids in SPS).

Bradburd Supporter
Anonymous said…
I too am inclined to vote for Bradburd. I liked him at the Hale event and he is very supportive of Jon Grant whom I plan on voting for.

I am torn with the Stranger's endorsement for District 5. Jaurez always seems to give a good rah-rah speech on everything she has done in the past but there are no clear ideas of what she wants to do if elected. Also when my husband asked her about charter schools and mayoral control of the school district, she was very confused and didn't really answer the question. Brown on the other hand seems to have plans and doesn't support charter schools or mayoral control. Brown helped save the beach at 130th. I am leaning toward voting for Brown.

I plan on attending the Hale forum on Thursday. It is a more controlled atmosphere because the seniors are the ones who come up with the questions but the questions can be repetitive. The public doesn't ask any questions.

HP
Christina said…
HP, I was going back and forth between Juarez and Brown. A Reddit.com AMA for Seattle City Council District 5 helped a little for understanding what issues the candidates care and know about. On Sunday a Brown volunteer knocked on our door. I managed to ask her a few questions, she asked for my phone # and Sandy himself called on Tuesday. He shared his four top issues, and I agree with at least three of them, and very strongly about two of them.

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