http://mx2.co.mendocino.ca.us/elections/election_results.php
I want to congratulate Michael and thank all those who supported me. Hopefully we can all make the school district better together.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Results
It's over. I lost.
http://mx2.co.mendocino.ca.us/elections/election_results.php
I want to congratulate Michael and thank all those who supported me. Hopefully we can all make the school district better together.
http://mx2.co.mendocino.ca.us/elections/election_results.php
I want to congratulate Michael and thank all those who supported me. Hopefully we can all make the school district better together.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Comptche debate/discussion
Last night we had the Comptche debate/moderated discussion. Chuck engineered a cordial but animated affair where everyone present was able to contribute; my thanks again. If you've read this website, you already know many of my positions on the issues, so I present an audio recording of the evenings' event and let it speak for itself. The recording is one made by my iPod in a large, open room so its quality is uneven. If you have any questions about the dialog, please email me and I can clear them up.
(errata: listening to a portion of the discussion, I hear I claimed the town of Philo was the one that did a study of cash flow in and out of the community and found it was sending $50M/year out -- I was in error. The town that did this was Willits, not Philo, though I suspect that any community that did such a cash flow analysis would find similar monetary outflows for energy.)
(errata: listening to a portion of the discussion, I hear I claimed the town of Philo was the one that did a study of cash flow in and out of the community and found it was sending $50M/year out -- I was in error. The town that did this was Willits, not Philo, though I suspect that any community that did such a cash flow analysis would find similar monetary outflows for energy.)
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Comptche debate tonight
Just wanted to remind the readers of the Comptche debate tonight. Michael Schaeffer and I will engage in a question and answer session with the audience driving the discussion. The forum will be moderated by Chuck Wilcher, a former school board member; if you can't attend tonight, you can get your question asked by emailing Chuck at cwilcher@mcn.org
The discussion starts at 7PM Wednesday November 2nd at the Comptche Community Organization Hall (the Grange).
CCO location
CCO Facebook page
The discussion starts at 7PM Wednesday November 2nd at the Comptche Community Organization Hall (the Grange).
CCO location
CCO Facebook page
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Position Paper
Position papers are hard to write. If you think like a politician then you're always wary of the land mines you might be setting with each word. Many a pol has been brought down by their own utterances.
I don't think like a politician.
By nature, I'm a problem solver. As a software architect and entrepreneur, it's what I've done my whole life. While one might think of these as technical or business concerns, both really boil down to organizing and appealing to groups of people, and dealing with the inevitable difficulties that result. While at first blush one might consider these political actions, I've never approached organizing my peers that way. I use notions of shared goals and common good while making the journey as enjoyable as possible as my motive forces.
The Mendocino Unified School District has just this kind of goal: the welfare and education of our children. As a father of two small children, nothing less is acceptable not only for the benefit of my children but also my community. To help the district do this requires the ability to listen, innovate, and actualize -- skills that I've demonstrated in the past and am eager to apply to the district's challenges.
The Budget Situation
A number of factors are working together to make the district's budget situation difficult. First and foremost is the never-ending California budget crisis. The pressure to reduce funding to the schools has been relentless, and currently the district is threatened with the loss of transportation funds by the trigger cuts.
Secondly, population demographics has been working against the district. Student populations have been declining for a decade and the trend show no sign of reversing. Part of this is due to the echo of the WWII baby boom (boomers' kids having kids) has finally worked its way through the system. Part of this is because of the collapse of the timber and fishing industries, long the linchpins of the local economy. And finally part is the high cost of housing in the Mendocino area. Put it all together and you have the family unfriendly formula that we see today.
I believe there are ways the district can enhance its revenues. First is to take advantage of the eScript program (http://escrip.com/program/about.jsp) and let the community's buying power contribute to the schools' bottom line. Second is to look at the district's resources and find new ways to apply them. I'm doing just that by co-ordinating a group of high school students interested in computer programming and channeling their talents to produce a piece of smartphone software that can be sold and the proceeds going directly into the district's coffers.
Facility Maintenance and Transportation
With forty nine acres of land and seven major building complexes, maintenance and ground's keeping is full time job for the district. One site in particular, the HIgh School, is particularly troublesome. An old collection of buildings exposed to the full brunt of the Pacific weather, it apparently requires more maintenance than the other building sites. Compounding the issues that many of the district's buildings are remote, so if additional supplies are needed for a repair that usually means the crew must visit again another day.
Transportation and bussing are another large expense for the district, and is one directly affected by the California budget situation. Should the threatened trigger cuts take place, the district could lose about $190K which would have to come out of the general fund. It's a difficult situation, but I feel we need to wait to see how redistricting affects the legislature's make-up; if the deadlock in Sacramento is broken, we may have a lot more flexibility than the situation today.
The Mendocino Rec Center
The financial world has a term for the condition one finds the MCRDP's (http://www.mendocoastrec.org/) finances: train wreck. I have a lot of sympathy for the current management; most of them aren't the ones that made the fatal decisions that have wrecked MCRDP, but it's their problem. I understand the decision has been made to close down the CV Starr aquatic center within the week, a loss to all living in the coastal area.
As MCRPD also runs the Mendocino Rec Center (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mendocino-Rec-Center/109468599078120), their weak finances threaten to take Mendo down with it. This is of concern to MUSD for two reasons: MUSD is the landlord of the old Mendocino school that houses the rec center, and MUSD must hold the community's children as its highest priority. It simply won't do to have the kids released from school at 2:30PM without anywhere to go.
Fortunately, the Mendocino community has realized the dire situation concerning the Rec Center and have formulated at least two separate plans to continue its operation should the MCRPD completely fail. I actively support each of these fall back plans and intend on closely monitoring the situation to ensure the Rec Center is a community resource for a long time to come.
Math Competence
As it stands today, half of all graduating high school students need to take remedial algebra upon entering college. We can do better than this, and we have done better in the past. Math is important, and the reasons why we have this problem today reach far beyond Mendocino and into Sacrament and its statewide policies and procedures. It will take five to ten years to fully correct this situation, and will require organizing with like-minded districts and affecting change at the state level. As a holder of a minor in Math and a near-daily user of applied mathematics, I understand the importance of math skills and lament how we're sending our kids off today. I vow to make fixing this a priority.
If you would like to know more about me, please check out my (out-of-date) resume at jimgagnon.net/resume or google "Jim Gagnon Abacus Concepts". Or simply talk to any of the parents of school-age children in Comptche. Finally, please feel free to email me at jim@electgagnon.com to talk issues or arrange a phone call.
Jim Gagnon
I don't think like a politician.
By nature, I'm a problem solver. As a software architect and entrepreneur, it's what I've done my whole life. While one might think of these as technical or business concerns, both really boil down to organizing and appealing to groups of people, and dealing with the inevitable difficulties that result. While at first blush one might consider these political actions, I've never approached organizing my peers that way. I use notions of shared goals and common good while making the journey as enjoyable as possible as my motive forces.
The Mendocino Unified School District has just this kind of goal: the welfare and education of our children. As a father of two small children, nothing less is acceptable not only for the benefit of my children but also my community. To help the district do this requires the ability to listen, innovate, and actualize -- skills that I've demonstrated in the past and am eager to apply to the district's challenges.
The Budget Situation
A number of factors are working together to make the district's budget situation difficult. First and foremost is the never-ending California budget crisis. The pressure to reduce funding to the schools has been relentless, and currently the district is threatened with the loss of transportation funds by the trigger cuts.
Secondly, population demographics has been working against the district. Student populations have been declining for a decade and the trend show no sign of reversing. Part of this is due to the echo of the WWII baby boom (boomers' kids having kids) has finally worked its way through the system. Part of this is because of the collapse of the timber and fishing industries, long the linchpins of the local economy. And finally part is the high cost of housing in the Mendocino area. Put it all together and you have the family unfriendly formula that we see today.
I believe there are ways the district can enhance its revenues. First is to take advantage of the eScript program (http://escrip.com/program/about.jsp) and let the community's buying power contribute to the schools' bottom line. Second is to look at the district's resources and find new ways to apply them. I'm doing just that by co-ordinating a group of high school students interested in computer programming and channeling their talents to produce a piece of smartphone software that can be sold and the proceeds going directly into the district's coffers.
Facility Maintenance and Transportation
With forty nine acres of land and seven major building complexes, maintenance and ground's keeping is full time job for the district. One site in particular, the HIgh School, is particularly troublesome. An old collection of buildings exposed to the full brunt of the Pacific weather, it apparently requires more maintenance than the other building sites. Compounding the issues that many of the district's buildings are remote, so if additional supplies are needed for a repair that usually means the crew must visit again another day.
Transportation and bussing are another large expense for the district, and is one directly affected by the California budget situation. Should the threatened trigger cuts take place, the district could lose about $190K which would have to come out of the general fund. It's a difficult situation, but I feel we need to wait to see how redistricting affects the legislature's make-up; if the deadlock in Sacramento is broken, we may have a lot more flexibility than the situation today.
The Mendocino Rec Center
The financial world has a term for the condition one finds the MCRDP's (http://www.mendocoastrec.org/) finances: train wreck. I have a lot of sympathy for the current management; most of them aren't the ones that made the fatal decisions that have wrecked MCRDP, but it's their problem. I understand the decision has been made to close down the CV Starr aquatic center within the week, a loss to all living in the coastal area.
As MCRPD also runs the Mendocino Rec Center (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mendocino-Rec-Center/109468599078120), their weak finances threaten to take Mendo down with it. This is of concern to MUSD for two reasons: MUSD is the landlord of the old Mendocino school that houses the rec center, and MUSD must hold the community's children as its highest priority. It simply won't do to have the kids released from school at 2:30PM without anywhere to go.
Fortunately, the Mendocino community has realized the dire situation concerning the Rec Center and have formulated at least two separate plans to continue its operation should the MCRPD completely fail. I actively support each of these fall back plans and intend on closely monitoring the situation to ensure the Rec Center is a community resource for a long time to come.
Math Competence
As it stands today, half of all graduating high school students need to take remedial algebra upon entering college. We can do better than this, and we have done better in the past. Math is important, and the reasons why we have this problem today reach far beyond Mendocino and into Sacrament and its statewide policies and procedures. It will take five to ten years to fully correct this situation, and will require organizing with like-minded districts and affecting change at the state level. As a holder of a minor in Math and a near-daily user of applied mathematics, I understand the importance of math skills and lament how we're sending our kids off today. I vow to make fixing this a priority.
If you would like to know more about me, please check out my (out-of-date) resume at jimgagnon.net/resume or google "Jim Gagnon Abacus Concepts". Or simply talk to any of the parents of school-age children in Comptche. Finally, please feel free to email me at jim@electgagnon.com to talk issues or arrange a phone call.
Jim Gagnon
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
A debate is on!
Here's the notice I'm sending out about the coming discussion/debate. Hope you can make it.
***
School Board Candidates' Debate
The two candidates for the Comptche seat of the MUSD school board, Michael Schaeffer and Jim Gagnon, invite you to join in a moderated discussion and debate on issues facing the Mendocino Unified School District and community at large. Questions and discussion topics will come from the audience.
The discussion starts at 7PM Wednesday November 2nd at the Comptche Community Organization Hall (the Grange).
We welcome your attendance and questions.
PS: If you can't attend, you can email your questions to our moderator, Chuck Wilcher, and he'll be sure to ask them. We're going to try to record the debate and make it available on the web afterwards.
CCO location
CCO Facebook page
***
School Board Candidates' Debate
The two candidates for the Comptche seat of the MUSD school board, Michael Schaeffer and Jim Gagnon, invite you to join in a moderated discussion and debate on issues facing the Mendocino Unified School District and community at large. Questions and discussion topics will come from the audience.
The discussion starts at 7PM Wednesday November 2nd at the Comptche Community Organization Hall (the Grange).
We welcome your attendance and questions.
PS: If you can't attend, you can email your questions to our moderator, Chuck Wilcher, and he'll be sure to ask them. We're going to try to record the debate and make it available on the web afterwards.
CCO location
CCO Facebook page
Friday, October 21, 2011
Endorsements
I'll be putting these in a new Beacon ad I'll be running until the election, but I'll let my readers know now who feels strongly enough that I would be a good addition to the school board that they're willing to endorse me. They are:
Nancy Gardner, Mendocino Businesswoman
Janna Hansen, Comptche Schoolteacher
Judy Stavely, Teacher (retired)
Shanti Bischop, advocate and parent
While I heartily thank all of the above, I especially want to thank Janna. She is the sole employee of the school district willing to openly support me, even though the incumbent is almost universally disliked among the district's teachers and employees. She has the kind of strength and bravery I like to associate with residents of Mendocino county.
Nancy Gardner, Mendocino Businesswoman
Janna Hansen, Comptche Schoolteacher
Judy Stavely, Teacher (retired)
Shanti Bischop, advocate and parent
While I heartily thank all of the above, I especially want to thank Janna. She is the sole employee of the school district willing to openly support me, even though the incumbent is almost universally disliked among the district's teachers and employees. She has the kind of strength and bravery I like to associate with residents of Mendocino county.
The League of Women Voters
Just a short note this time as I work on my position paper, which I should be posting later this weekend: I had hoped to debate my opponent, the incumbent, in a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters. However, after nearly a week of not returning my phone calls the League has finally told me that they will not hold a debate on the board seat I'm contesting. As this is the first contested seat in eight years, this stance is unbelievable and frankly indefensible.
I had always grouped the League of Women Voters as one of the good players in American politics. Having the Mendocino chapter of the League ignore its responsibilities in this manner leaves me surprised, disappointed and a bit angry. I try not to be cynical, but it's painful to have a bubble burst like that.
I had always grouped the League of Women Voters as one of the good players in American politics. Having the Mendocino chapter of the League ignore its responsibilities in this manner leaves me surprised, disappointed and a bit angry. I try not to be cynical, but it's painful to have a bubble burst like that.
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