The Chamber of Commerce employed a format this morning at its endorsement forum for School Board candidates that future forum sponsors could emulate or at least explore:
Grill each candidate privately while the other two mark time in another room.
Chamber strategy at the breakfast hour at the Four Points at Sheraton Hotel was successful.
Endorsements will be announced later.
The dozens in the audience gained a clearer understanding of each candidate’s capabilities and limitations.
Presentations by the contenders differed sharply from their opening sally two weeks ago at the Culver City Democratic Club when Scott McVarish, Prof. Kelly Kent and Anne Burke sat side-by-side at a table and largely echoed each other.
By a blind draw made by Chamber Pac official Michael Hamill, the candidates spoke in that order today, which turned out to be far less telling than their separation.
No candidate needed his or her allotted 15 minutes to respond to five questions.
- Are you proposing any initiatives for the School District? How would you fund them?
- Name two programs or content areas at any level that you feel are a success and why. Name two programs or content areas in need of strengthening to make students college-ready.
- What would be the elements and characteristics of a positive relationship between the School District and the business community?
- How do you see the role of Chamber of Commerce and its relationship with the School Board, the School District and the schools?
- Do you see a Project Labor Agreement (a collective bargaining agreement with a labor organization) playing a role in the Measure CC bond projects? If so, what are the benefits for students of the District? And how will this affect local small businesses.
Thank you, Mr. Noonan, for reporting on this morning’s Chamber Forum. For those that missed the event, the Chamber will have a link on its website for voters to be able to watch each candidate’s question and answer presentation. The hope is to have it available by October 1, in plenty of time for voters to watch before the November election.