The Westbrook Endorsements for School Board 2023
I don't think these will come as any surprise to regular readers of this blog.
District 1 - DEBBIE CARLSEN
My endorsement goes to Debbie Carlsen. She's bright, is making community connections and engagement a hallmark of her campaign and, given how the City's pre-k program is growing within Seattle Schools, she brings that important experience to the table. She's running on more transparency and accountability which are two items sorely needed in this district. Her LGBTQ background brings an added voice to the board (along with student board member, Luna Crone-Baron).
What can I say about Liza Rankin that you haven't already heard and seen?
- Totally on-board with the Student Focused Outcome Governance (and the spending of nearly $25,000 for two SOFG conferences and she went to both of them). This new governance hands much more power to the superintendent from the Board AND makes individual Board members have less input than the board president. So if your board member isn't the board president, your elected director isn't truly representing you.
- Totally on-board with the SOFG kind of community engagement which is stripped down engagement and less of it. There are no greater examples than the murder at Ingraham and the homeless encampment at Broadview Thomson, both of which she represents. That Ingraham parents were begging for updates and, to my knowledge Rankin never asked the Superintendent for publicly, is tone-deaf and disgraceful. That Rankin mostly sat on the fence about the Broadview Thomson encampment issue, rather than supporting teachers and staff, parents and, most of all, students at that school is damning.
- Said, out loud, that she KNEW voting for the teachers contract would be a threat to future district budgets and yet voted for it. (It would be interesting to go back to that Board meeting and see what the incumbents said at the time.)
- Not only supports SOFG, she took some kind of SOFG education and is now a trainer. Glad she had the time for that all during the budget period.
- Hilariously, Rankin is trying to use the time-honored incumbent line of a new person won't know the district as she does and don't want to change horses mid-stream, blah, blah, blah. Well, in 2019, she WAS that new person as well.
It appears that the outcome of the primary is likely to be Debbie Carlsen and incumbent Liza Rankin. Michael Christophersen has a non-campaign. Blaine Parse, who I had hoped would be a good candidate, is running a scattered campaign that doesn't seem to be reaching voters. If Parse was a better candidate and, given how many parents in D1 don't like Rankin's representation of their region, I think Parse and Carlsen could have bumped out Rankin.
District 2 - CHRISTINA POSTEN
Editor's note: Posten's campaign has gone silent. She has
raised no money, apparently has no website. Not sure what is happening
but I'll keep trying to find out. What an irony it would be that, for
the second time, Lisa Rivera Smith will just walk into office.
As there are only two candidates in this race, they both skip the primary and will only be on the general election ballot.
My endorsement goes to Christina Posten. Whether or not you liked Posten's leadership at Whitman Middle School, it is clear that she knows this district. That is a HUGE plus for a challenger. She knows about budgeting at a school level. She knows about issues around safety and gang issues; the shooter at Ingraham had been at Whitman and she had deep concerns about not being able to have the resources to put focus on gang member.
The incumbent, Lisa Rivera Smith, has been described as "mild" and I would agree. I think it's a good thing to be an even-tempered person on any kind of board but there are times when I wish Rivera Smith had actually been louder. Been more explicit in her discomfort/uneasiness about any given issue in SPS. The district is heading into ever-more treacherous waters and we need directors who will at least call out concerns on issues loudly.
And speaking of issues, Rivera Smith's re-election website is a single page which is quite odd. But then again, she told The Stranger that her campaign would ramp up after the primary. That may make sense but I'm not sure any candidate should be telling voters she'll get to them after the primary.
I do know that Rivera Smith cares and is one of the three directors who had community engagement meetings. She even puts her phone number out at her director page on Facebook.
District 3 - BEN GITENSTEIN or CHRISTIE ROBERTSON
I am going to waffle here because 1) I haven't truly made up my mind between Ben and Christie and 2) Evan Briggs needs to be primaried because she would just be sycophant of incumbent Chandra Hampson (who wisely is not trying to stay on). I will pick one candidate in the general election.
Gitenstein and Robertson both have great strengths that would be a welcome addition to the board.
Gitenstein is the one candidate to speak out loudly about the current direction of the district. It's truly refreshing and it shows a lot of courage. Most candidates wait until the general election but he's talking about real issue right now. His background in startups means he can read a budget. His background in advocacy, like Debbie Carlsen, means he knows how to bring people together to work for change. That he was the executive director for the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance means he has worked with low income families and that gives him a great understanding for a group of people who need a voice in SPS.
Robertson has a PhD in Neurobiology and Behavior and does that bring more to the table when the board talks about Special Education. (Plus she has a Special Education student). She has been on the board of the Seattle Council PTSA, speaking out loudly. She recognizes that teachers need the resources to help teach ALL kids.
My campaign is guided by the principle "Nothing About Us Without Us," ensuring that those most impacted are involved in the decision-making processes.
Robertson's belief in mental health issues of children is also a hallmark of her campaign.
Briggs is a lackluster candidate whose background in film doesn't seem to have many parallel skills to being a school board director.
District 6 - GINA TOPP
I think that Topp has many great skills and connections that could be very useful on the board. She is also the only candidate of the three that has any real applicable skills or understanding of the district. She's clearly going to win.
That's said, I'm uneasy about her. She seems to be somewhat embracing SOFG, she seems to pull much more right than the other candidates (she's endorsed by former directors Peter Maier and Steve Sundquist who were very much to the right). I wonder if she will be a "go along to get along" director.
It will be interesting to see which of the other two candidates garners second place; it will be either Maryanne Wood or Rosie McCarter.
*************
What did I ask the candidates that I was able to interview?
- Why they are running
- Beyond the legal, what do you think the role of a school board director should be?
- Should a board director meet with community regularly?
- Do you know what SOFG is?
- Have you met the Superintendent?
- Talk to me about closing schools and that well-resourced schools will come out of that
I also asked four SPS questions. Here are the results. (All of these answers are easy to find at the SPS website. I just assumed whoever wanted to run might know these basics.)
- What is the operations budget for SPS? Only Robertson and Gitenstein got this one right (about $1B)
- What is the current enrollment for SPS? Carlsen, Topp, Robertson and Gitenstein got this right (about 50,000 students)
- How many schools are there in SPS? Carlsen and Robertson got this one right (about 100)
- What is the minority enrollment in SPS? (Asked because SPS is a majority minority district at about 54% while Seattle itself is not, ) No candidate got this one right.
Comments
SPS should plan for a continued drop in enrollment until 2030.
Go Beavers
D3 Voter
Oversight committees are great- until you hear Rankin was asked to approve a $20M contract increase that didn’t go through committee. She sat at the dais babblin and wondered if the BEX oversight committee saw and comment on a $20M increase of expenditures,! She voted YES
The Stranger showed tremendous disregard to the Ingraham community for what was a traumatic and catastrophic event.
I don’t see that Briggs has anything to offer.
I am going with Melissa’s recommendations.
D3 x4
Change Voter
Go Liza
Not a believable statement, she famously doesn’t talk to constituents, just the press at campaign time. She never returned my emails.
Nice Try
Truly, thank you.
Now, onto the question I came to this thread for:
I mean, seriously, is any single one in this batch somebody that actually excites you?
An endorsement is one thing, but truly being jazzed about a person who’s throwing their hat in the ring is another. From your reporting, I haven’t caught a width of anybody in any of these races that is a rockstar. I’m not talking about being charismatic and telegenic, I’m talking about having a deep knowledge of the district, amazing core competencies and matching skill sets to enable excellence in governance, and eminently reasonable thinking that truly centers a straightforward approach to servicing diverse types of students in a complex district.
A Sue Peters, basically.
Because, reading between the lines, I can’t say, I’ve detected zestful embrace of anyone of these folks.
There’s “The will of the People”
i.e. someone you enthusiastically vote for because you think they’re going to be a great servant of the people.
And then, there’s “The WON’T of the People”
i.e. someone you dishearteningly vote for because you are doing what you can to BLOCK a problematic alternative, or even worse, a destructive candidate from getting power because you know or fear they’re going to wreak havoc on the system and hurt the people there supposed to be governing. Perhaps they’re stupid or lazy or selfish or deluded or crazy or or narcissistic or completely incompetent. We’ve had many a “lightweight” on SPS’s board (and I am being charitable)
So, truly, are there candidates here that in your assessment are Rockstars? Because I’m not seeing any.
Furthermore, on your June 22 thread about District 2, “wildcat” put a comment on your thread that included a communication from a candidate you endorsed, that communication gave me the willies big time: Potsen, in her own words, came across as another strident Chandra Hampton-type individual. So what I’d rather have a lazy ineffective board Director, like we currently have in district 2, the incumbent, or take a chance on a social justice warrior on a tirade? I’ll go with lazy and ineffective. Although, perhaps having another social justice warrior on a tirade would put this district into a sort of receivership, which might be a death knell, which might hasten the rehabilitation and reinvigoration of the district, ultimately leading to better things for kids and families. Who knows.
Anyway, the question stands: is there anyone you actually are truly grateful is in this race?
(Although, as I have stated before, it is tragically irrelevant… Unless there is a FULL slate of incredibly competent, highly motivated, excellent governors, running together to daylight the catastrophe of the budget, and what led us to this catastrophe, and who espouse a clear focus of how they’re going to get back to basics by providing outstanding education, which is adaptive to the communities in which it serves, it really doesn’t matter who sits on the board because the death spiral is in my words, locked and loaded: families will find a way to flee, and the more resourced, the more likely they will be long gone)
Vote No
But Im content with knowing that a good old fashion recession will cause a push back on property taxes and that will finally the end public education money grab.
Its happening
Vote Change
Vote No, thanks for the striking comments.
I generally don't get really excited about candidates because it seems most of them have not been to a Board meeting or (formerly) committee meetings. They may not have even ready the RCW on being a school board director. Sue Peters knew this district in a way most candidates do not.
I'm not sure the average person would watch a current school board meeting and think it was a professional board. President Hersey is very casual "yo!", Hampson speaks on and on at will, Rankin has to be recognized multiple times because she forgot "just one more thing", Sarju is something of a sphinx, and Rivera Smith speaks very quietly and is sometimes hard to understand.
The most professional person on the board is Vivian Song Maritz. If you read her (many)written questions to staff, it shows that she has done her homework. And you could see her value when she was running.
I went back and read that comment from "Wildcat," and I can only say that principals have to tread very lightly and in all directions. And Posten being a brand-new principal seems to have especially taken that to heart. What you see, I don't. That said, I am surprised at the hands off approach that she and Lisa Rivera Smith are taking to campaigning. They can wait until school starts but no matter because they can't campaign on school grounds. I'm sure they both know this.
The "will" of the people or the "won't" of the people -I like that. You can't know for sure why people vote the way they do. As I have previously mentioned, I suspect that Rankin and Carlsen will clear the primary but the vote totals each gets will be telling. If Carlsen gets close to Rankin - the incumbent - that is likely due to the dissatisfaction of voters in that region who may have heard from Ingraham High parents and/or Broadview Thomson parents over Rankin's seeming indifference to their safety concerns.
(To review, for board elections, the primary is ONLY for the regional voters and that means those in D1. But in the general election, ALL Seattle voters will vote in EVERY board race. It's nutty that you have to run a small, tight campaign and then one that is city-wide.)
D1 map - https://www.seattleschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DirDist_1_landscape.pdf
Who do I think is a rockstar (or appears to have the skillset and could develop and be very good on the board)?
Ben Gitenstein and Christie Robertson. I have found them to be very thoughtful people who have chops to be good (and different) board members. Boy, I wish they were not in the same race.
No matter but it's vital that they come out of the primary in the top two. Briggs is a lightweight who is being pushed forward by Hersey and Hampson.
I assume you’re referring to Carlsen. She’s not the most impressive candidate, but at least she’s not Liza Rankin. Rankin needs to go yesterday. She advocated to keep an homeless encampment at a Title One school in her district, then took no interest in school safety after the murder of one student by another at another school in her district. Anyone would be an improvement.
SPS parent