Many of the candidates for the Lowell Joint school board have been endorsed by a variety of local school board members, city council members, state representatives and others. I can’t say how any of these endorsements have come about, I have not sought out any of these type of endorsements and have not received any either.
I have participated in a couple of forums with the other candidates. Here is a summary:
Whittier Daily News
Seven of the eight candidates met with Steve Scavzillo and Tracey Garcia at the Whittier Daily News office on October 6th. Mr. Scavzillo is the paper’s Opinion Editor and Ms. Garcia is the paper’s education reporter.
Mr. Scavzillo facilitated the meeting and each candidate was given the opportunity to speak on a number of topics throughout the 90 minute meeting. The candidates were invited to provide any additional documentation on their qualifications for later review.
Ms. Garcia was there primarily to do research on an article on the campaign which ran in the paper on October 10th. You can view a copy of her article here
While it was noted that “all the candidates would be qualified to serve on the school board”, Mr. Scavzillo’s final recommendation was for Darrin Barber, Gene Dunford and Anastasia “Staci” Shackelford. You can view a copy of his article here.
Lowell Joint Education Association
Each candidate was invited to a separate 30 minute interview with five representatives of the teacher’s union on October 11th. The candidates were asked a series of ten questions and given the opportunity to provide any additional documentation on their qualifications for later review.
The panel was also present for the League of Women Voters candidate forum held at Rancho Starbuck on October 13th. During the two hour forum each candidate was provided time for an opening and closing statement as well as the opportunity to answer questions posed by the audience. You can view a replay of the forum at www.ljsdforum.com.
The panel notified the candidates of their selections on October 14th and they decided to support Gene Dunford, Bill Hinz and Patrick Rockenbach.
At the end of the day the final decision will be made by the voters on November 2nd. As I have stated from the very beginning I think that it important for voters to learn as much as they can about the candidates and make an informed decision.
I think one of the best opportunities to learn about the candidates was at the League of Women Voters candidate forum on October 13th. We were fortunate to have the forum videotaped and you can see in on Time Warner cable in Whittier, La Habra and La Habra Heights or at www.ljsdforum.com.
Endorsements are nice, but in the end it is best to make up your own mind who you will support. After you review all the information available, I hope that you will give me one of your three votes on November 2nd.
