One of a series
On occasion during the hundred-day campaign for the School Board — which ends with the dawn of Election Day tomorrow — Scott Zeidman has resembled the Olympic swimmer frolicking in a wading pool.
Almost regardless of how tomorrow turns out, he will remember this campaign for three reasons —
• The pure fun he has derived from knocking on doors and shmoozing with voters on front porches and at candidate forums,
• The professional discipline he has demonstrated and the rare imagination with which he has engineered his campaign, artfully employing student volunteers, seemingly to considerable advantage, and
• The A-plus student ease with which he has comprehensively responded to every question — no ducking, no succinct responses, and perhaps most significantly, comprehensive, informed answers.
Whether parrying or bantering with senior citizens, teenagers or Baby Boomers, well-informed or barely aware audiences, wise guys aiming an arrow at him or well-intentioned persons awkwardly handling an elephant-sized question, Mr. Zeidman has answered as gently and evenly as if he were sitting across the kitchen table from an octogenarian at midnight.
As the lone incumbent in the five-way race for two seats, Mr. Zeidman has bannered numerous accomplishments, two of his favorites being starting and passing the first parcel tax, Measure EE, and losing only seven teaching positions in an era of constant shrinkage the past four years. He has demonstrated a mastery of the quicksand, often-handcuffed budget as if he had been doing it most of his career. Turned out, he knew budgets as well as he knew his family.
He is President of the School Board going into his bid for re-election, and he has a hefty record to run on, even if there is not unanimity on that point.
When he and Steve Gourley arrived on the Board four Novembers ago, some unsuspecting incumbents may not have realized that a double earthquake had just entered the room. Even if they were a minority of two, they immediately and dramatically altered the personality of the School Board. Activism and energy led off every agenda. Mr. Zeidman, especially, has been the ubiquitous Board member he swore to be, putting in at least 30 hours a week, nearly all of it visible to the community. Age aside, the Zeidman-Gourley hurricane turned into twin whiz kids who pledged action and kept their word. They were thunder (Mr. Gourley) and lightning (Mr. Zeidman). Not everybody applauded, but no one ever had to wonder where the School Board was or what it was doing.
At the end of Term One, Mr. Zeidman and Mr. Gourley, who is stepping away, have chosen starkly separate paths.
Question: Where do you most profoundly disagree with your rivals?
“I don’t have any rivals. I have two excellent women running for the Board along with me. I separate the women from the men here because I am not sure what Mr. Zirgulis and Mr. Abrams stand for. With respect to Nancy Goldberg and Laura Chardiet, I think both are wonderful ladies. I don’t consider them rivals. Both of them talked to me about running, and I encouraged both of them to run.”
How much attention do you pay to other candidates in the race?
“I am not concerned with what they are doing. I am more concerned making people understand what is going on in our schools.”
Prioritize your major achievements.
“We passed the parcel tax, Measure EE, which never, ever had been done before. We passed bonds before, but never a parcel tax. There is a huge difference. The community came around. The $6 million (to be realized from the parcel tax) is fantastic, but here is what is important. When I was running for the Board four years ago and knocked on doors, there were a lot of questions about what was perceived to be the aloofness of the Board and other issues the public thought was important.
“There probably is a reason they didn’t try to pass a parcel tax four years ago. They probably couldn’t have passed it. The community was not necessarily behind the Board. They may have been behind our schools. But from watching, I didn’t think the community was behind the Board.”
What did that tell you that you needed to do once elected?
“Accessibility. I have tried to be everywhere around the District. You have to be. You have got to give that effort to make an appearance. You don’t have to stay for the entire event. But let the public know you are there so they can ask you questions or tell you what you have done wrong, even what you have done right.”
(To be continued)
