Writer-Citizen: DSBN Trustee Election Wrap Up
Remember those elections we had in Regions and Municipalities across Ontario in November?
I wrote a series of posts about the local public school board election and, since the results were made public, I've been keeping quiet. I've been feeling mildly guilty about not commenting, but I've had good reason for that.
A Little Background:
Yes, this is a writer blog but I am a citizen with children in the District School Board of Niagara public school system. There was been a woeful lack of coverage of the school board election, so I used my role as a general busybody and citizen to interview the 9 candidates competing for the 4 seats representing St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake. 6 of the 9 candidates responded to my questions in full and the 3 who didn't appeared at the Meet and Greet event on October 17th that I wrote about too.
There were 4 trustee seats available that represent the citizens of both St.Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Dalton Clarke, who had served on the board since 1968, decided not to seek re-election and there was hope that things could be shaken up.
In the end, there were only two candidates I felt completely comfortable endorsing, Jennifer Ajandi and Linda Crouch. Both of them were elected.
That said, I had no confidence in long-time trustee Lora Campbell or Jonathan Fast. They were both re-elected.
Shortly after the election, I interacted with a voter on Twitter who said his wife was unhappy with two of his school board choices on the ballot. When I asked who they were, he responded "Fast and Clarke."
When I told him there was no Clarke on the ballot, he corrected with Campbell.
It's pretty clear that the phenomenon of "name recognition" is the biggest force in determining election outcomes. Fast and Campbell won by huge majorities because they split Clarke's name recognition when he wasn't on the ballot.
Naturally, it's not as simple as that. In the end, parents of active students in DSBN schools are a statistical blip in the electorate. Most of us were born during the period demographer David Foot called "the Baby Bust" in his book Boom, Bust and Echo (Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 1996).
In Niagara especially, thanks to our mild climate, senior citizens between 65 and 85 are not only more active voters, but they represent the single largest group in our community. I also noticed that active seniors are more likely to go out to election debates and candidate meet and greets than any other age group. There's good reason for that. Parents are exhausted at the end of the day. Every single one of us. Add to that the difficulties and expense of evening child care, a shortage of events and lack of candidate communication and you've got a perfect storm for voter-disengagement.
Still, school board elections remain difficult. Members of the Catholic school board were acclaimed in this area, but their EQAO results are better, they haven't been plagued with school closures and their special needs students are accommodated and enriched.
Among public school supporters, our community has been full of educational controversy. We've all be affected by school closures, mega school construction, a new and difficult emphasis on the business of busing (school busing in Niagara is all run by private companies) and a lack of concern for neighbourhood health and communities. We've also shown a great deal of concern about Director of Education Warren Hashizaki's salary that, in 2012 was already approaching a quarter of a million dollars a year.
There are pockets of vocal and effective activism. In Niagara-on-the-Lake local parental activist group, CARE is engaged in a legal battle challenging school closures in the town. The group sort-of supported Fast in a quiet and legally careful way and it was a smart move. The realtor's face appears on his business's advertisements and he's an active member of his large faith community, both of which made him likely to win. And, to be fair, he has publicly supported the amalgamation of the Catholic and public school boards...albeit before NOTL town council, he has never moved the issue onto a school board agenda.
Once an election is held, we all have to work with the representatives the majority selected and, sometimes, there are surprises of hard work and astonishing ethics. I didn't support Mayor Walter Sendzik during the election campaign, but I've been happy with what I've seen of him so far on issues of poverty and community engagement. Fast may yet surprise us in the same way.
In the meantime, Linda Crouch stands out in the continuation of her campaign of public engagement to inform others about the province's proposed changes to the school closing process.
Would I Do It Again?
Citizen journalism is an important movement, but I have to make a living ( I have books out by the way) and the time I spent on this blog was limited by the demands of working and parenting. While I did a lot of research and have contact with people inside and outside the board in every capacity, there was a lot of rumour I could not investigate or verify. And, in the end I had candidates fill out form responses to questions...which is exactly what the St.Catharines Standard did using their now very limited paid staff. Since this election I've noticed that the Standard has upped its coverage of school board trustee meetings and issues and for that, I think we can thank the people who clicked on links and read this blog series to the tune of 7210 unique views (all posts in the series combined). Since there were only a few dozen votes between the 4th place candidate who won a seat and the 5th place candidate who didn't, that is a significant number.
I've met lots of people and had very interesting conversations with them as a result of this blog series. People who think I look familiar say hi to me at parties because they've read my school board candidate profiles. Those are discussions we need to keep having. As much as young people and activists want to believe all "important issues" are dealt with at the provincial and federal levels of government, the issues that affect our daily lives -- like the education of our children -- are dealt with on a local level where every vote has a huge impact.
Watching the other races for local offices, I have to say the school board race seemed cleaner than the one for regional council, for example. That said, there is still a lot that needs our attention between elections.
There were some elements of fear in undertaking this project that only became clear once it became an influence on the race. A close relative on the supply list stopped getting calls for a few days and we all worried it was the result of "Kate not keeping her mouth shut." It turned out just to be a blip.
Friends who work for and with the school board kept a little more distance in public for a while, or so it seemed. In private there was no question of the persistence of friendship. Being a writer always invites vulnerability, but this was closer to home and more public than personal.
What's Next?
When the candidates have to file their financial information, I will try to review it -- if I can handle paying any freedom-of-information request fees that I hear are being charged now.
In reading the improved school board coverage, I've been surprised by the number of trustees who talk about their support of and expressed loyalty for senior staff at the board. To me, this shows a tendency to simply accept recommendations at the expense of critical examination and review, which is the primary responsibility of school board trustees. I don't have time to attend school board meetings on a regular basis, but I think I can make a resolution to attend at least one in 2015 and would like to challenge all of you to try that too.
Will I be able to do this for the next school board election? Maybe. I don't think I can or should do any more fill-in-the-blanks journalism, even if it is time and cost effective. Next time, all the candidate profiles are going to have to be based on individual records, public profile, experiences and deeper research. If there are to be interviews, they will have to be tailored to each candidate. It's a huge commitment of time and resources I will try to make, but it's a long time away. Keeping track for the next four years and keeping the discussions going may well be the way forward for all of us.
In case you want to review who we are dealing with, here is a list of all the candidate information posts I wrote to cover the race:
I wrote a series of posts about the local public school board election and, since the results were made public, I've been keeping quiet. I've been feeling mildly guilty about not commenting, but I've had good reason for that.
A Little Background:
Yes, this is a writer blog but I am a citizen with children in the District School Board of Niagara public school system. There was been a woeful lack of coverage of the school board election, so I used my role as a general busybody and citizen to interview the 9 candidates competing for the 4 seats representing St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake. 6 of the 9 candidates responded to my questions in full and the 3 who didn't appeared at the Meet and Greet event on October 17th that I wrote about too.
There were 4 trustee seats available that represent the citizens of both St.Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Dalton Clarke, who had served on the board since 1968, decided not to seek re-election and there was hope that things could be shaken up.
In the end, there were only two candidates I felt completely comfortable endorsing, Jennifer Ajandi and Linda Crouch. Both of them were elected.
That said, I had no confidence in long-time trustee Lora Campbell or Jonathan Fast. They were both re-elected.
Shortly after the election, I interacted with a voter on Twitter who said his wife was unhappy with two of his school board choices on the ballot. When I asked who they were, he responded "Fast and Clarke."
When I told him there was no Clarke on the ballot, he corrected with Campbell.
It's pretty clear that the phenomenon of "name recognition" is the biggest force in determining election outcomes. Fast and Campbell won by huge majorities because they split Clarke's name recognition when he wasn't on the ballot.
Naturally, it's not as simple as that. In the end, parents of active students in DSBN schools are a statistical blip in the electorate. Most of us were born during the period demographer David Foot called "the Baby Bust" in his book Boom, Bust and Echo (Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 1996).
In Niagara especially, thanks to our mild climate, senior citizens between 65 and 85 are not only more active voters, but they represent the single largest group in our community. I also noticed that active seniors are more likely to go out to election debates and candidate meet and greets than any other age group. There's good reason for that. Parents are exhausted at the end of the day. Every single one of us. Add to that the difficulties and expense of evening child care, a shortage of events and lack of candidate communication and you've got a perfect storm for voter-disengagement.
Still, school board elections remain difficult. Members of the Catholic school board were acclaimed in this area, but their EQAO results are better, they haven't been plagued with school closures and their special needs students are accommodated and enriched.
Among public school supporters, our community has been full of educational controversy. We've all be affected by school closures, mega school construction, a new and difficult emphasis on the business of busing (school busing in Niagara is all run by private companies) and a lack of concern for neighbourhood health and communities. We've also shown a great deal of concern about Director of Education Warren Hashizaki's salary that, in 2012 was already approaching a quarter of a million dollars a year.
There are pockets of vocal and effective activism. In Niagara-on-the-Lake local parental activist group, CARE is engaged in a legal battle challenging school closures in the town. The group sort-of supported Fast in a quiet and legally careful way and it was a smart move. The realtor's face appears on his business's advertisements and he's an active member of his large faith community, both of which made him likely to win. And, to be fair, he has publicly supported the amalgamation of the Catholic and public school boards...albeit before NOTL town council, he has never moved the issue onto a school board agenda.
Once an election is held, we all have to work with the representatives the majority selected and, sometimes, there are surprises of hard work and astonishing ethics. I didn't support Mayor Walter Sendzik during the election campaign, but I've been happy with what I've seen of him so far on issues of poverty and community engagement. Fast may yet surprise us in the same way.
In the meantime, Linda Crouch stands out in the continuation of her campaign of public engagement to inform others about the province's proposed changes to the school closing process.
Would I Do It Again?
Citizen journalism is an important movement, but I have to make a living ( I have books out by the way) and the time I spent on this blog was limited by the demands of working and parenting. While I did a lot of research and have contact with people inside and outside the board in every capacity, there was a lot of rumour I could not investigate or verify. And, in the end I had candidates fill out form responses to questions...which is exactly what the St.Catharines Standard did using their now very limited paid staff. Since this election I've noticed that the Standard has upped its coverage of school board trustee meetings and issues and for that, I think we can thank the people who clicked on links and read this blog series to the tune of 7210 unique views (all posts in the series combined). Since there were only a few dozen votes between the 4th place candidate who won a seat and the 5th place candidate who didn't, that is a significant number.
I've met lots of people and had very interesting conversations with them as a result of this blog series. People who think I look familiar say hi to me at parties because they've read my school board candidate profiles. Those are discussions we need to keep having. As much as young people and activists want to believe all "important issues" are dealt with at the provincial and federal levels of government, the issues that affect our daily lives -- like the education of our children -- are dealt with on a local level where every vote has a huge impact.
Watching the other races for local offices, I have to say the school board race seemed cleaner than the one for regional council, for example. That said, there is still a lot that needs our attention between elections.
There were some elements of fear in undertaking this project that only became clear once it became an influence on the race. A close relative on the supply list stopped getting calls for a few days and we all worried it was the result of "Kate not keeping her mouth shut." It turned out just to be a blip.
Friends who work for and with the school board kept a little more distance in public for a while, or so it seemed. In private there was no question of the persistence of friendship. Being a writer always invites vulnerability, but this was closer to home and more public than personal.
What's Next?
When the candidates have to file their financial information, I will try to review it -- if I can handle paying any freedom-of-information request fees that I hear are being charged now.
In reading the improved school board coverage, I've been surprised by the number of trustees who talk about their support of and expressed loyalty for senior staff at the board. To me, this shows a tendency to simply accept recommendations at the expense of critical examination and review, which is the primary responsibility of school board trustees. I don't have time to attend school board meetings on a regular basis, but I think I can make a resolution to attend at least one in 2015 and would like to challenge all of you to try that too.
Will I be able to do this for the next school board election? Maybe. I don't think I can or should do any more fill-in-the-blanks journalism, even if it is time and cost effective. Next time, all the candidate profiles are going to have to be based on individual records, public profile, experiences and deeper research. If there are to be interviews, they will have to be tailored to each candidate. It's a huge commitment of time and resources I will try to make, but it's a long time away. Keeping track for the next four years and keeping the discussions going may well be the way forward for all of us.
In case you want to review who we are dealing with, here is a list of all the candidate information posts I wrote to cover the race:
ELECTED, Ajandi, Jennifer
Re-ELECTED, Campbell, Lora
ELECTED, Crouch, Linda
Re-ELECTED, Fast, Jonathan
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