ANOTHER Decatur Election??
Decatur Metro | June 5, 2013Didn’t we just have an election?
At Monday’s Decatur City Commission meeting, the commission set the fall election for Tuesday, November 5th, where residents will take to the electronic voting booth and cast their votes for Commissioners Patti Garrett (in District 2) or Fred Boykin’s (in District 1) respective seats.
The qualifying period will be Monday August 26-28th.
So…now you know!
School Board elections too this fall, right? Three seats up? The seats currently held by Seals (southside), Wilson (at large), and Wisniewski (northside). None of them have children any more in the school system.
For City and School Board elections: Who is running? Who’s not?
It is possible to be very well qualified for a seat on the BOE without having children in the system. School board members represent everyone in the city not just parents. When my kids were the in the system, there were decisions made that were best for the school community at large but were hard for me to support because they weren’t best for my individual child. Board members without children in the system may have a clearer ability to evaluate issues without parental emotional attachments.
+1
Agree, but three out of the five? That’s imbalanced, IMHO.
Yeah, I think fifi has a point — you don’t have to have kids in the system to help be able to determine what’s best to help them. But at the same time, I agree that a majority of the board SHOULD have kids in the system. Just my opinion.
IMHO three out of five WITH kids in the system could be considered imbalanced. Agree 100% with everything Fifi said.
I’m confused. Didn’t Fifi say “I agree that a majority of the board SHOULD have kids in the system.”?
No, Lump said that, agreeing with you.
Oh, these DM posters all look alike.
Also, I’m wondering what they themselves want to do. You refocus as your kids move on and up.
I don’t think people serve on school boards as long and as diligently as either Valarie or Marc has done, out of a motivation tied specifically to one’s own child(ren). It’s a deeper, broader call to serve the community that doesn’t necessarily fade just because one’s own kids have moved up & out. That said, there’s no faulting either one of them whenever they’ve had enough.
I think only about 20% of Decatur residents have kids in the school system. Why, therefore, is is out of balance to have 40% of the board with kids in the system? Should the 80% without kids in the system be so under represented?
Because a lot of parents think the rest of us should just shut up and pay the bills.
Given the low voter turnout and the high proportion of voters without kids in the system, evidently all any group has to do to vote in a particular issue or candidate is show up at the polls! Go for it! I was originally a Decatur voter without kids in CSD and will be again! I’m not sure I’ll change my views on what makes a good School Board member when the kids are gone but I’ve been wrong before.
Looked at through the lens of proportional representation, that makes sense. Maybe that’s the best lens. But it’s also important for Board members to have a good feel for student, teacher, and facility issues. That’s harder to do if you are no longer actively involved. For example, I’m already totally out of touch with the current issues for the ECLC even though I had a child there once.
But, in the end, the candidates decide if this is how they want to spend their time, talents, and energy and the voters decide what’s most important to them.
“But it’s also important for Board members to have a good feel for student, teacher, and facility issues. That’s harder to do if you are no longer actively involved.”
I would think that actually serving on the Board would be far more involvement than almost all parents who actually have kids in the system because, you know, they have dayjobs and meals to fix, etc.
I know lots of people in Decatur who are “actively involved” with our schools who do not have children who are currently attending them. I also think that people without kids in the system can look at all of these issues from an objective standpoint that might be different from parents with kids in the system.
I think we need BOTH perspectives on the board. The parent with kids in the school is important, but not any more so than the community at large.
I have no trouble with both perspectives being on the Board. The quibble is over what proportion is best and who knows? Definitely, the proportion has changed. I remember when Jason Uchitl was the only member without children in CSD and there were even a few years after him when all the members did, weren’t there? So that’s my frame of reference. I’m curious–when was the last time that there was a member with no children past or present in CSD?
There will also likely be a bond referendum to finance the expansions of the high school and Renfroe Middle. So plenty of reason to hit the voting booth on Nov. 5.
I have seen, everywhere I have lived, this repeated notion that Board of Education candidates should either 1) have kids in the system and/or 2) been active volunteer/PTO parents.
I don’t care about #1 by itself, in fact, it can lead to agendas (not necessarily in Decatur, but look around locally at other school boards!). It would be nice if a subset of members are #2, but definitely not all. (and those who satisfy #2 likely also satisfy #1)
Serving on a governing board (elected or appointed) requires a range of skill sets we should ask of candidates:
- Past record in being a responsible and responsive committee member – shows up to meetings, does what is asked, is responsive to constituents
- Experience in managing board/staff relationships. Boards should set policy, staff should execute policy. I’ve seen local appointed boards as well as non-profits where boards tread into what I call “policy execution”, and usually that is symptomatic of being understaffed or a misunderstood board/staff relationship
- Experience in overseeing budgets and long-term planning
- A demonstrated ability to listen, identify issues, and broker solutions among all parties
- *** An appreciation of effective communication with the public, students, and parents. Just because you “do it” doesn’t mean you do it effectively. I think CSD has been particularly weak here (as a parent and citizen) – there are good intentions but weak processes. To their credit, when people speak up, the board and staff respond (like recent mods to Renfroe rennovations). The board should make this an agenda item and seek community input on how to solve it.
Anyway, that is my candidate skills wish list …
I see 3 categories of people – those with kids in CSD at the present time, those who have had kids in CSD but not now, those who have never had kids in CSD. All have important perspectives to bring to the governing of our school system.
In my perfect world, the BOE would include all three of these categories with no more than 2 members from any one category. Each one of them would have many of the skills , attributes and experiences you mention in your wish list.
Come Nov. 5, I will refer back to your wish list to help me evaluate the candidates …… thanks for the very wise comments DrB !
Maybe the turnout will be greater than the < 20% in the past election, although historically, city elections have always had a low turnout for reasons I could never fathom.
I’m always surprised too. I’d love to see the proportion for those who:
- post here on DM
- are active in the City of Decatur community
- attend City Council and other City meetings, participate in events like Decatur 101, often
- serve on City work groups, boards, etc.
- are actively involved with PTA/PTOs
- get involved with governance/policy issues at schools, e.g. attend SLT or School Board meetings,
- participate on school or CSD committees
- attend most school events
I’d like to think that the proportion of the above groups that vote in city elections that establish our city and school govenance would be high. But someone has to make up that 80% that doesn’t vote. Are there many who don’t do any of the above?
It is perfectly rational to abstain because the chances of your vote influencing the election are close to zero. Single votes almost never turn elections, even in municipal elections.
I’m assuming (hoping) you’re jesting. If not, you need to check the results of the special election just held. The margin was less than 20 votes. It’s true that single votes hardly ever decide an election per se, but small margins can and do.
So I need to check results that don’t contradict what I said? It’s either a single vote outcome or it’s not. If not, one person’s decision to vote (or note) doesn’t turn the election. I’m not recommending that anyone decide not to vote, just saying that it’s rational to conclude one’s vote won’t influence the election and, thus, to abstain.
Tell that to Scott Drake and Valerie Wilson! A few single voters that bothered to vote made a big difference for them! I have always been impressed with what a big difference votes DO make here. Especially absentee ballots.
Yes, we’ve had some very close races recently. I can’t say that I have a long view of Decatur’s political history, but it does seem like we’re entering into some interesting times in local politics. Not to reference those past races specifically, but the population shifts that people keep talking about (too narrowly I think) in relation to CSD will start to have a political manifestation at some point, if they haven’t already.
Don’t count out the limousine liberals just yet!
All comments very interesting. My own experience is that candidates will write off certain voters or neighborhoods because of pre conceived notions. For example, a current member of the city commission was invited to speak to my son’s Scout troop ten or twelve years ago a few weeks before the election. When the candidate said something about banning certain kinds of fast food containers, I rolled my eyes. Even my son, maybe twelve years old at the time, described the candidate’s views as “a little tin foilly”. But a few days later, I received a hand written letter from the candidate saying how much he enjoyed talking to the Scouts and their parents. Two days before the election, the candidate. called me at home asking for my vote. I told him, “You and I don’t have anything in common politically”. He told me that was true but he would always listen to my views and would respect my opinion. Long story short, I voted for that rascal because he worked for my vote.
Every vote counts and so does every voter. Candidates should keep this in mind and be willing to reach out to all voters and neighborhoods.
Yup, in local elections, you can sometimes judge a candidate by who they demonstrate themselves to be vs. who they say they are. Just like teachers!
I know a certain tall, bald, retired teacher who is much beloved because of the support and encouragement and extra hours he gave so many students!