Will It Be an Incumbent Sweep? - The Spectrum Magazine

As I Was Saying… (Continued from p6)
All three incumbents on the San Mateo County Community College District
Board — Dave Mandelkern, Patricia Miljanich and Karen Schwarz — are running
for re-election but will be challenged by Jaime Diaz, Joe Ross and Michael Stogner.
Since the voting district is so large, it takes an enormous amount of money
to defeat an incumbent in this race. Ross, executive director of an education
nonprofit called Citizen Schools, which uses volunteers and does not get
funding from the taxpayers, is certainly raising some funds and support.
How he decides to spend it and how he directs his messages will be the major
factor because the incumbents are running very low-profile campaigns.
Measure H has the San Mateo County Community College District asking us
to pass a $564 million bond.
A potential problem for the bond passage could be the opposition from the Friends
of CSM Gardens, a student group. The group is upset over the elimination of
the horticulture department building and the 6,000-square-foot greenhouse at
College of San Mateo. A spokesperson for the group said that “students are protesting
because the bond money is not going to be used for projects that really matter
to them.” The district also came under fire last year for increasing salaries of
faculty and administrators despite very tight budget concerns. This may be
an example of going to the well once too often, and voters will say no.
In case you are one of the many wondering about the progress in the
process of picking a new police chief for Redwood City, there just might
be an announcement before my next column comes out, so listen up. From
what I can gather, there was a total of 26 applicants, with our two interim
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Meeting student needs despite tough budget decisions was the top priority of
those hoping to serve on the Sequoia Union High School District board.
Five people are running for three seats on the Sequoia Union High School
District board. Incumbents Lorraine Rumley and Olivia Martinez, both
of whom joined the board in 1999, are up against nonprofit director Larry
Moody, Stanford University educator Allen Weiner and Carrie Du Bois, San
Carlos School District trustee.
Funded through property taxes, Sequoia has made tough cuts but remained
pretty resilient in recent years. This year’s budget came with about $5 million
in cuts yet did not eliminate the deficit, which means tough decisions are
ahead. The budget assumes $5.7 million in additional cuts in the following
two years. Getting through difficult financial times came with different ideas
from the candidates.
Martinez was at a loss. The district and board saved for years in case such
a financial hit occurred. It was that decision, she pointed out, that is allowing
them to now slowly decide how to live within financial restraints. Ultimately,
Martinez said the district is constantly looking at multiple budget plans and
hoping for the best.
Du Bois saw it as an opportunity to change the fundraising models. Menlo-
Atherton’s foundation, she pointed out, was quite successful. Its practices
could be used at the other schools.
Rumley said partnerships — both with businesses and with other public
agencies — are one way to continue to meet needs no longer supported by
current funding. The Teen Wellness Center on the Sequoia High School
campus, for example, is a way to offer confidential health services to all local
teens and is funded through a variety of groups.
Both Moody and Weiner agreed that all possible partnerships should be pursued.
Weiner saw the board’s role in financial decisions as setting priorities rather
than dealing with the nitty gritty. While he was sympathetic to the goal of
keeping cuts from the classroom, more than 80 percent of the district’s funds
are spent on salaries. Not touching those while looking at such large cuts, he
said, could be unavoidable.
Less revenue can sometimes make it difficult to offer special programs that
help struggling students. Like most districts, Sequoia struggles with an ethnic
achievement gap among students. Those running described standardized tests
as a great way to get a snapshot of a student’s comprehension. However, candidates
struggled to identify what else could be done to close that academic divide.
chiefs, Chris Cesena and Ed Hernandez, in the group. The applicants
were evaluated and an interview process is now going on with eight of the
top applicants. Then there will be a final interview process with the top
candidates and a decision made by City Manager Bob Bell.
I, like most in our community, am hoping that our new chief is promoted
from within the department, and the two candidates we have to choose from
are very competent and desirable to have as a leader. To know that an officer
started here and worked his (in this case) way up the ranks is something we
want to foster. Along the way, he has learned all aspects of the department
and, more importantly, our community. He knows his staff and department
procedures (and what needs to be changed) and can work with Bell and our
council to continue Redwood City’s superior law enforcement reputation because
there is an established relationship and that helps the process along. Don’t you agree?
As Bell continues to put his team in place, it will be interesting to see who
is the final choice and if it will be indicative of his choices of late and in the
future. His past two appointments have come from outside the organization
— Community Development Director Bill Ekern and Downtown Business
Development Specialist Edesa Bitbadal. But I would not take that as an
indication of who the choice for chief will be. Bell is a smart CEO for our
community and knows our wishes.
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Regardless of your political affiliations and your views of the candidates and
issues, it is important to take the time to mail in your absentee ballots or go to
the polls and vote on Nov. 8. The candidates running have worked hard during
their campaigns and deserve us all taking the time to cast our votes. It is a
privilege we must take seriously every election. Vote!
Five Vying for Three Seats on Sequoia Union Board
Sequoia provides a variety of programs for students already, like tutoring
and parent training, said Martinez. While Martinez acknowledged addressing
the problem will always be a priority, she also felt a disparity of some kind
would always remain.
Du Bois wanted to see parent education expanded so learning at home
would have more support.
Rumley added that truancy has become an issue on which the district has
begun to work.
“They can’t learn if they’re not here,” she said.
Weiner simply explained it’s a problem that would be solved if educators
knew how to resolve it. Given the budget restraints, he proposed to focus on
a handful of successful programs that can be expanded rather than offering
such a wide variety.
Moody saw the achievement gap as also being a communication issue.
From East Palo Alto, Moody expressed a lack of outreach to the Ravenswood
City School District. He wanted to see more of an effort and mentioned
previously bringing the two districts and city officials together for meetings
as a way to start the conversation.
Du Bois agreed. A Carlmont parent, she spoke about transitioning students
from Ravenswood to the four comprehensive sites. She noticed a lack of local
representation in those efforts over the past year and began working to rectify
that. Part of the problem Du Bois saw was about notification. Many of the
families did not have access to email and weren’t getting mailers.
Moody additionally wanted meetings to be televised and possibly push
back the 5:30 p.m. start time to allow more working families to attend.
Rumley and Martinez both pointed to changes in recent years to aid in
communication but recognized there is always more that can be done.
When comparing schools within the district, Sequoia offers a variety of
options. It is also the chartering agency to four charter schools — a topic
that was sometimes controversial in the district. Most of the candidates were
supportive of the additional choices when it’s meeting a community need.
There were some issues with the California education code on the topic, but
the district trustees would not have any control over that.
For Moody it was simple — he will support whatever program is best
meeting the community’s needs.
Editor’s note: This article, written by Heather Murtagh, appeared first in the Daily Journal newspaper.