First Candidates for Seattle School Board Elections 2023
Update 5
It appears that there is another person running in Director Rankin's district, Michael Christophersen. He has run before. From past interactions when he was running before, he's not school board material in the least and he comes off as creepy. (The King County Elections listing is unclear; he's on there as both running and withdrawing.)
If he stays in the race, it will mean a primary for that district. That could be interesting because then you would see if Rankin - after pretty much ignoring Ingraham High parents as well as Broadview-Thomson parents and their safety concerns - truly has support in her own district.
As well, there is another contender in District 6 and she's Maryanne Wood. Ms Wood's LinkedIn page says she is a "shift lead" at Kinetic Builders but there are no dates for her employment. The company is a general contracting company. I can't find much more about her.
end of update
Update 4 - To make it clear:
District 1 (Rankin is current director)
Liza Rankin (running to retain her seat)
Jonathan Assink
District 2 (Rivera Smith is current director but has not yet filed to run)
Janai Ray
Christina Posten
District 3 (Hampson is current director but has not yet filed to run)
Evan Briggs
Christie Robertson
District 6 (Harris' seat; she is not running again)
RoseLynne P. McCarter
Gina Topp
Brief bios below
end of update
Update 3:
A new contender in the vacating District 6 seat; her name is Gina Topp. So far she has a placeholder website and I'll put up a link as soon as it is available.
She graduated from the University of Washington in 2017. She graduated with a double degree (BS in biology in 2017 and Juris Doctorate in 2021). She first worked for King County as some kind of assistant in operations and then for Dow Constantine as legal counsel. Topp is on the executive board for the 34th Dems as their parlimentarian ( in 2019 she was elected their chairman).
It appears she has one non-school aged child.
end of update
Update 2:
More contenders
District 1 - Running against Director Liza Rankin is Jonathan Assink. His campaign webpage is a little less-than-fleshed out but his tagline is "Thriving Schools Need All of Us." He is a parent but I'm not sure if his children are old enough yet to be in SPS. He is the Director of Digital Media and Engagement at Renewal Northwest. His LinkedIn background indicates that he has worked in communications for much of his career (could be a plus for community engagement). He also helps oversee a church coffee shop, The Green Bean.
District 3 - Running for Chandra Hampson's seat is Evan Briggs. Evan is a woman (I say that because Evan is more traditionally a man's name) and is a documentary filmmaker. She doesn't have a campaign website yet. She has been Site Council Chair at Thornton Creek Elementary and has three children. (Interestingly, candidate Christie Robertson, is also running for the same seat.
end of update
Update 1:
Another candidate is running in District 2, former Whitman principal, Christina Posten. She left Whitman in early May last year. The letter from Superintendent Jones seemed a little frosty on her departure as he gave her no thanks for her service to Seattle Schools (the announcement said she was leaving SPS altogether).
Her LinkedIn page doesn't reflect that she has left SPS. She had previously been a teacher at West Seattle High School. She then left to be an assistant principal at a school in the Highline district.
end of update
Director Liza Rankin is going to run to keep her seat in District 1. There are no challengers to her yet.
Janai Ray is running in District 2 which is Lisa Rivera Smith's seat; Rivera Smith has not yet filed nor stated if she is running.
Christie Robertson is running in District 3. The current director holding that seat is Chandra Hampson. She has not filed nor stated if she is running.
In the departing Director Leslie Harris seat in District 6, there is one person - RoseLynne P. McCarter.
Doing a quick Google check, here's what I found out about each candidate (except Rankin, a known quantity).
On Janai Ray, it appears she's a real estate agent and president of the McClure Middle School PTSA. She appears to be African-American. She was the member of a union for a decade and, in that work, is a certified scrum master.
Christie Robertson appears to be white. Her LinkedIn page says that she is "an advocate for inclusion and justice in education." She has been the secretary for the Seattle Special Education PTSA for the last two years. She was formerly a software development program manager and has a PhD in Neurosicence. From the Seattle Special Education page (not PTSA), it appears she supports restorative discipline.
Here's a link to her campaign page. She says she is neurodivergent. She seems like a Hampson replacement.
RoseLynne P. McCarter (who appears to be white and uses the name "Rosie") is part of the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP (Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program). (Coincidentally, former Board director Stephan Blanford works for this group.) She is an overnight shelter counselor at New Horizons Ministries.
Her Facebook page reflects that she is looking for people to help run her campaign.
Here's her campaign page that says, "Seattle's School Board Champion." It has a column about her history and it states:
A neuro-divergent and Mom of three, Proud Cherokee and Joseph's band of Nez Perce. LGBQIA 2 spirit. Phi Theta Kappa. WSA: Parent Ambassador, Agent of Change, Policy Council, school-based behavioral health and suicide prevention subcommittee, Campaign for Cash, UPLAN, Minister, Shelter Counselor, and peer educator.
Our Goals
- Make sure our children are properly educated and prepared for adulthood.
- Take on the budget crisis without cutting the budget to vital programs.
- Make sure everyone receives free meals no matter income
- Break down the barriers of systemic racism in our schools
- Identify and fix the problems facing the Highly capable program.
Comments
Janai Ray will be a really good replacement for Lisa Rivera Smith. She only won because she was unopposed. No talent.
Christie Robertson will replace Hampson. She is a Thorton Creek parent and a wonderful advocate.
Manuela Slye will crush Rosie. She stands no chance against Slye.
Buckle up.
I certainly hope qualified candidates show-up.
Hold On
Robertson does look solid; wonder if Hampson will file?
Slye has said she isn't running but I'm with you; I think she might. But Slye has a couple of hurdles to get over, not the least of which is having another persona who is quite harsh about Seattle Schools.
I'm trying to figure out if Ray is running in the right district. She is using a PO Box for her election address (perfectly fine) but that zip code is over in Lake City (maybe she works in that area?) That's not in Rivera Smith's region. If she's a PTA president at McClure, that's not in Rivera Smith's region. I called King County elections and they say she hasn't registered with them yet so they can't say if she's in the right region or not. They told me their system is set up to flag if a candidate is not running in the right district for the office sought.
Seat Belt
-Winning in Seattle
Rankin has been in lockstep with Hampson each and every step of the way.
Rankin needs an opponent.
I am doing a lot of research including asking friends of friends of friends about some of the players here. In West Seattle there could be a lopsided race if nobody else files and if in fact your suspicion of Slye running is correct. Manuela Slye is a homeowner in the most affluent neighborhood in West Seattle while Rosie is an apartment dweller in White Center (mostly low income residents). Slye has knowledge and connections - Rosie struggles with grammar on her candidate page (she just needs someone to edit her content, but still). I found Rosie has two Facebook profiles, the second one is "Rosie Hex" - is this a red flag like the whole Manolita Light stuff?
Rosie is an overnight shelter counselor and a gas station attendant. Slye is an educator.
Manuela Slye appears to be in need of a personal assistant - Rosie appears in need of dental care coverage. No offense, just my observations.
It all comes down to privilege. I can count with one hand the school board directors that actually held a job while sitting on the board. The rest are a bunch of rich, privileged brats playing school board.
Stalker
While it is true that being on the Board is difficult if you work full-time, to call people who serve "rich, privileged brats" is way out of line, mostly because it is not true. You can count on one hand the number who had jobs? I can count on one hand those who were truly rich.
The overwhelming majority of those who have served on the Seattle School Board have done so at great personal sacrifice and that isn't going to be belittled here.
Do better if you want your comment published.
They are anti-bodily autonomy, squishy on both control, and believe all science must accept biblical "truth". They also believe that gay people need to be "healed" with the help of the church.
Going to guess that Green Bean dude is one of those stealth religious candidates that have been trying to sneak onto boards around the country.
-Anna
Also, Anna, it would be helpful if you could provide a link to your comments. I have never heard of this religious group and it would be good to know what they are about.
NED
popcorn now
-skeptical parent
Facts Matter
However, the page for the place where he works - Renewal Ministries NW - says this:
"Scripture is Authoritative
We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be, by the Holy Spirit, God’s Word to us and the unique and powerful witness to Jesus Christ."
That's a straightforward statement and those of us raised in the Christian faith know much of what is said in the Bible (both testaments).
Reader
- Rankin will be re elected - no school board material in her opponents
- Lisa Rivera Smith is s a weak school board director but her opponents are not qualified (Posten was a less than stellar principal) so Rivera Smith might ge elected (technically not re-elected because she had no opposition last time)
- People’s speculation about Hampson’s endorsements aside, Briggs is definitely the stronger candidate
- Gina Topp will win easily- she is a politician and Harris convinced her to run once she heard Slye was not running. The other two are not even close to Topp
Buckle Up
This take is mostly wrong.
D1: Carlsen and Pance will make it to the general. The demographics of D1 no longer favor Rankin with the new boundaries. Do not underestimate how angry the public in D1 is with Rankin. Not about her failure to lead during the pandemic but also on Broadview-Thompson safety and security and the murder at Ingraham, which she has responded to with utter mediocrity. Carlsen, who has an impressive resume of concrete achievements and has served on the executive board of the 36 Dems, will handily and deservedly win.
D2: There are only 2 candidates. Posten is a disgruntled ex-principal. Rivera Smith will win. However, Rivera Smith is not a weak candidate. She is a quiet person, but she is a terrific communicator with constituents and a voice of sensibility and sanity in a room of bullies whose turn at the presidency is overdue. She would win in almost any match-up.
D3: Briggs had a troubled history at Thornton Creek, where she stepped into the role of site council president due to unexpected vacancy but then created chaos and confusion undermining the principal hiring process without any mandate resulting in an incompetent principal hire, and then exploited a later major racist incident to her advantage and insisted on staying in office as president for two years without a mandate. She then refused to stand for election, as required by the bylaws, at the normal time in the spring, and left both the site council and the school. In the fallout of these incidents, after an investigation two meddling executive directors were punished: one demoted, one left the district. If anyone is worried about Robertson's use of woke language, just wait until you get a load of Briggs. She will divide and sow disharmony throughout the district far beyond what Hampson has done so far, and none of it will be in the service of SFFEJ. Briggs is a chaos agent and a quitter with relatively little civic and schools engagement compared to Robertson's extensive, proven, and years-long service. Briggs would also unlikely serve her full term if elected. Gitenstein is a protest vote at this point, and if the media properly daylight the problems with Briggs, then Robertson and Gitenstein will move to the general, and there's a strong chance Gitenstein could win although Robertson is favored.
D6: This is the only race you're right about. Topp has held in multiple positions with the local Dems and will easily win.
Right Answers
I agree with Right Answers on Rankin. If Carlsen steps up, I think she could win. Rankin is not a great speaker; she tends to babble and sometimes giggles. Plus, she has not won a lot of friends in her own district. The numbers out of the primary will tell us a lot.
I honestly think Rivera Smith could be in trouble as well. I am still doing my interviews with candidates and came away impressed with Posten (but it's hard for me to make a judgement on her leadership style). Rivera Smith is smart but has she really pushed back against the majority? Not in any real way.
In Hampson's district, I have interview two candidates and am waiting to hear back from a third. I see strength in all of them and again, like Rankin's district, I want to see how those primary numbers come out. Is Hampson beloved in her district? I think not.
On paper I think Topp is the strongest candidate in that race but I withhold judgement until I interview everyone.
I think there's one wild card - who will SEA endorse? Because while Hampson and Rankin have been cozy with SEA leadership, aren't rank and file teachers unhappy over their lack of support to Washington Middle School, Ingraham High School, and Broadview-Thomson? I know I would be.