[Editor’s Note: The following interview was conducted recently with School Board candidate Scott Zeidman, contending for one of two open seats in tomorrow’s election.’]
Is it true that you have two or three dozen high school seniors working on your campaign?
I do. Many Culver City High School seniors are required to not only go to a School Board or a City Council meeting, but also to volunteer two hours on a political campaign. I started with one student (his mother and I went to Culver City Junior High and Culver City High School together). And it has blossomed significantly from there.
Why do you think you have so many students working on your campaign, and do the other candidates have any?
I’d like to think that these students are working with me because they believe in what I say. But I’m not certain that this is the true reason. Most likely, the students are working with me because I am accessible. I make myself available to them, and I try to make the assignments interesting and educational. The other day, one of the other candidates approached a group of seven students while I was speaking with them. He told them that he “needed two students to work for him on his campaign.” None of the seven joined him. I have not heard of students working for the other campaigns.
Why do you think that is?
There is a huge difference between working with someone, and working for someone. These kids have to put in their two hours, but they are certainly not indentured servants. I make them part of our team. We are a grassroots effort. Every little bit helps. We treat all of the volunteers equally, and we try to make it a favorable experience. Plus, I relate well to the students. I listen to them. I care about what they have to say. These students are the experts on what is going on at the high school. We’d be fools to ignore their thoughts and beliefs. Yet too often our School Board does just that.
What type of assignments do you give these students?
Let’s start with what type of assignments I don’t give. While we always need flyers to be folded and stuffed, that is certainly not a learning experience. I’ll stay up late and do the menial tasks myself rather than subjecting a high school student to that type of work. Generally, the assignments fall into three major categories.
The first category is basic research. The more time I spend on our campaign, the more I realize that I have so much to learn. When a new topic comes up, I usually ask one of the students to research the topic and provide me with a brief summary, with links. This works great for me. I get a two- to three-page informational paper. This works great for the students. It requires them to do research, something they will certainly need to do in college.
The topics vary. Sometimes they aren’t just on new subjects. One student was explaining that the Girls’ Varsity Softball team doesn’t have a fence for the outfield. She was very passionate about getting a fence, even though she was graduating this year. So, since she had this passion, I asked her to research the feasibility and the cost of obtaining a fence. Once we had that information, I told her we would work together to find the necessary funding for that fence. This will be much longer than a two-hour project. More in the neighborhood of 10 hours, considering the meetings we will jointly attend to try to make the fence a reality. I explained that it would take some time to raise the funds, not to expect anything overnight. She was undaunted. And she is presently working on this assignment.
Another student took issue with my stance on permits (limiting new sixth through 12th grade permits). He explained that he was a permit student. He said he got good grades and didn’t cause any problems. So he didn’t understand my position. I told this student that when I hire employees, I do not hire “yes men,” or “yes women.” I don’t want to hire someone who merely agrees with me. This student’s assignment was to provide me with an argument as to why my position on permits is wrong. I firmly believe that I am right. But I am open to listening to arguments on the other side as well. I imagine that this task will take much longer than two hours. When he is done, he, too, will agree that I am right (laughing).
The second category is attending a candidate’s forum and taking notes on one of the candidates. This requires the student to pay attention, take notes and actually learn something about the candidate’s beliefs. I was amazed to learn that some students don’t know that we have a Natatorium near campus. After the forums, I met with the students to get their respective thoughts on not only their assigned candidate, but also on how I did. I am looking to hear what they liked about my responses and, equally as important, what they didn’t like. After the forums, the students sent me over notes on the program. The notes were often helpful in preparing for the next forum.
The third category is making phone calls. The students don’t call trying to convince the person answering to vote for me. Instead, the call is designed to get information from the person about what he/she thinks about our school system, and any ideas that the person has to improve our schools. This is by far the most difficult, and discouraging, of the tasks. People don’t often want to speak, either to a candidate or to a high school student. When the student is finished, the student handwrites a brief note to the person who responded on the telephone.
How is the work product you receive?
Great. Sometimes I have to spend a bit of time chasing the student down to get the information but, in general, their work product is great. I’ve learned so much from these students. My only regret is that they are too young to vote.
Is having the students work with you beneficial to your campaign?
I can’t answer that yet. See me on Nov. 7 (the day after the election). In all seriousness, I often spend a lot of time with each of the students. I guess I could be knocking on doors or making phone calls instead. However, working with the students gives me insight that the other candidates don’t have. It’s easy to speak to one or two students. But having around 30 students, from different groups within the school, give me information is quite another. The short answer to your question is that I am probably not getting many additional votes working with the students, but I am learning more. Even more importantly, I think that the students are learning more as a result. In that regard, it is a win-win situation. I know that it must be working. The students keep sending their friends over to assist as well.
