KISD CANDIDATE FORUM – Candidates Explain How One Board Member Makes A Difference
May 4th, 2009 | by John Pape | Published in KISD Candidate Forum, News | 1 Comment | Email This Post
Katy ISD school board candidates Ross Raymond and Stacy Edwards-Tomdio have responded to the fourth reader-submitted question in InstantNewsKaty’s online candidate forum.
Because of breaking news associated with the swine flu outbreak, this response, which was originally scheduled for publication on Friday, was delayed until today.
Raymond is challenging incumbent Robert Shaw for the Position 6 seat. Edwards-Tomdio is running against Neal Howard for Position 7.
Howard declined to take part in the forum.
Shaw initially agreed to participate, but then withdrew because, he said, not all candidates were participating.
Today’s question, as submitted by InstantNewsKaty readers, was:
“If there are seven votes (on the school board), how can any one board member make a difference in KISD?”
These are the candidate’s unedited responses in the order they were received:
Ross Raymond –
“I say the answer is a resounding, ‘YES!’
“Individuals both separately and as members of a larger body daily make contributions by their presence, by advancing values, by advocating for causes and by setting the right example.
“I view service on the Board as exactly that, serving the community by addressing the concerns of our residents, and advancing the cause of education while keeping a careful eye on the budget.
“I have been ‘the new guy’ many times in my life and have found reasonable men and women can advance ideas which the majority might not agree with initially, but will come to embrace over time. I had a wonderful high school English teacher who put it a little differently, ‘Plant an idea and it will manifest into an action over time.’
“I am determined to make a difference and if I were not 100% convinced of that I would not ask anyone to entrust me with their vote, to do otherwise would be folly.”
Stacy Edwards-Tomdio –
“With seven persons on the Board I represent slightly more than 14% of the total vote. If I can get one other to agree with me, we will be close to 30% and two more votes will push us over the 50% mark and that is a high enough percentage to pass anything.
“My job on the board is to represent the public. I believe I will be able to do this. I have been a daughter, wife and mother and in each of those roles I have had to ‘move’ others to my way of thinking. Sometimes I get it done quickly. Other times I fail altogether but I always keep working until I either come to know it was a bad idea, or I get the job done.
“I don’t see a problem being able to work with the Board. I am not so naive as to think I will always be on the winning side, but I will do my best to always be on the right side.”
Neal Howard –
Declined to take part in the forum.
Robert Shaw –
Declined to take part in the forum.
Additional questions and answers will be published in the remaining days leading up to the May 9 election.
May 5th, 2009 at 4:22 pm (#)
The fact that Neal Howard and Bob Shaw are refusing to let voters know their positions on issues should tell voters all they need to know: these two HAVE no positions or opinions. They are running to occupy a seat and do the superintendent’s bidding. They even cooked up this scheme about not participating in this forum, together, it appears.
It’s an ego thing for both of them. People will say “hello” and shake hands with them at church on Sunday. They get to take many trips to entertainment cities all over America at taxpayer expense–and their wives get to stay in the hotel room for free.
Mr. Shaw likes to eat high on the hog on these trips. I imagine he’ll show his running mate how that all works.
Mr. Shaw wanted all of us to believe he was a mechanical engineer for years until the Katy Watchdogs outed him. He’s a draftsman, and in my opinion, he thinks being on the school board validates his standing in the community, even if he doesn’t have a four year college degree.
Like I said, it’s an ego thing. And for sure it’s NOT “about the children.”
Mr. Shaw needs to stand on his record. That would include almost a perfect record of voting for anything put in front of him and usually without uttering a word to indicate any intellectual discernment regarding any issue. But in my mind, he mostly needs to be held responsible for voting to hire a superintendent who DIDN’T have a doctorate, who didn’t have a superintendent’s certificate until he had been here for over a year and for three years after he had started being employed as a Texas superintendent, whose only qualification appears to be that he passed bond elections where he was employed previously, and who failed to pay the proper amount of taxes in two school districts (Katy and DeSoto) because he twice filed illegal homestead exemptions in both places. That all stinks, Mr. Shaw, and you have had not one word to say about any of it.
I can’t imagine anyone bothering to vote for you again.
Mary McGarr