My request will follow but I want to start with Part 3 of "What Will I Do If I Am Elected to the Guilford County School Board."
Last night, February 17, 2016, I attended my first candidate forum that included not just Republican candidates for the Guilford County Board of Education, but also Democrat candidates for the Guilford County Board of Education. There were plenty of new faces on the panel and new ideas were presented. One thing that surprised me with the forum was that it was a lot more chippy and a lot more political than the other forums that I have attended. I guess this shouldn't surprise me since this is politics but for some reason it did and I thought I would expound upon my disappointment with that.
A lot of the chippiness appeared to derive from the dynamic of having sitting school board members on a panel with non-sitting school board members. This dynamic should not have surprised me either, I guess, because I have noted the chippiness and negative attitude that has come out of the one incumbent who has been making the rounds in the forums I have been attending. It is as if the incumbents are so beaten up at this point that they feel like they have to constantly make excuses for why our schools are not in better shape than they are rather than putting forth ideas of how to improve the schools. I don't know how many times I heard the phrase "attack on our schools" come out of one of the incumbents. I also don't know how many times I heard the phrase "we don't have control of that" come out of one of the incumbents. These negative attitudes bothered me. I understand that these folks are also saying they care about our kids and that they want to make a positive change, but I feel they are held back in making this change by their excuses and negative attitudes.
I can promise you that if I am elected I will not bring a negative attitude to the Board of Education and I will not provide excuses for non-performance. I am a person that calls a "spade" a "spade" and I will remain that person if I am elected. You see, if I am elected, I recognize that the voters are putting a trust in me that I will do all I can to improve our schools for all children in Guilford County regardless of gender, race, financial status, or ability. I recognize that if I am elected the voters are putting a trust in me that I will be a responsible steward of the taxpayers dollars that go towards schools. I recognize that if I am elected the voters are putting a trust in me that I will not give up or make excuses when finances may be tight. And, you know what as well, I recognize that if I am elected, I will be accountable to all of the voters in District 3 to live up to that trust. Even more importantly, I will be accountable to the two smiling faces of my children when I get home every night. I owe it to those 2 faces and to all the other little faces in District 3, that as their elected school board member, I do all I can to make sure they get the public educations that they deserve. I take this accountability very seriously and it will provide further fuel to my fire to make a positive change.
With all of that said, I also recognize that things are not going to turn around over night. There are a lot of changes that need to be made and likely some changes that we try will fail. The fact of the matter is that no one is perfect. But, you know what, when those changes fail we need to take ownership of the failure, learn from the failure, and ensure the failure does not occur again. Also, when we don't get the money we request from funding sources, we need to make sure we don't dwell on a lack of funding. It simply would not be productive. It also would not be productive for us to just blame the failure of ideas or funding on an "attack on our schools." Taking that position just sets too low of a bar for our schools. Indeed, what it does is equate to accept an absurd setting where we are ok with the fact our schools are not as good as we would like them to be. Such a setting is not good enough for any of our students in Guilford County, including my children. Therefore, I promise I will be accountable and I will not make excuses. As I said, I will call a "spade" a "spade."
Now time for my request. I have spoken on several panels already and will speak on more in the coming weeks leading to the election on March 15. My request is that you do what you can to attend one or more of these panels. I request you attend so you not hear only from me, but from the other candidates. This School Board election is a pivotal one in Guilford County. The School Board has been reformed with different districts and a different size so there is going to be a change. Accordingly, it is of the utmost importance that all voters are educated when they hit the ballot boxes on March 15, or before. I hope you will go to these events and listen to me, to my opposition, and to other candidates. A lot of us have different ideas. Some of us have different reasons we are running. Some of us are more political than others. Its your right to listen to us and make up your mind yourself on who you think will do the best job. I hope you will make up your mind by listening to us,. Don't just look at who has a picture taken with some other politician or who says that some other person supports them. After all, it is the candidate you are voting for, not the other person in the picture. And it is your job to pick out the right candidate, not someone else's job.
What you will find from me if you attend some of these events is that my positions and points of emphasis stay the same regardless of the audience. That happens because I speak from the heart on these topics. What you will find from me is that I am running because I am a concerned and engaged Dad, not a politician. What you will find from me is that I am passionate about this cause to make education better for all Guilford County Students. What you will find from me is that I believe I am running for the right reason, which is to make our kids education system better. What you will find from me is that the ideas that I put out there are my ideas that I have researched and that I believe in wholeheartedly, not ideas that I have heard from others or ideas that I am putting out there just because I think people want to hear them. What you will find from me is that I am the best candidate for District 3 in Guilford County.
As for events, I am having a Meet and Greet event on Saturday night, February 20, at the Rio Grande in Oak Ridge. More details are on my campaign page.
I would also note the following candidate forums that will provide a good opportunity to hear from all candidates:
- CFGC Frontline Forum- 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 23 at the Oak Branch Conference and Event Center, 23 N. Branch Drive, Greensboro, NC 27407
- Guilford County Men's Club Forum- 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 26 at the Guilford County Republican Headquarters (this event is tentative).
- Northwest Republican Women's Forum-Thursday, March 10-Time and Place to be announced.
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