Three letters in response to Is the Lady Right: Does It Matter Who Wins the School Board Election?

Why ‘the Lady’ Is Wrong About the School Board— A Dozen Revenue Related Ideas

by Robert Zirgulis

I beg to differ with “the Lady”  who says that School Board members “hold ceremonial, neutered positions.”
 
Not on my watch if I'm elected to the School Board.

I said I'd shake things up. That's why the “political machine” is afraid of me.
 
The School Board has a lot of power to help our students in the School District.  The School Board can make policies and direct the Superintendent to carry them out.
 
Some of the programs and policies that I think will make a difference include:

Financing;

The School District can raise millions by selling off surplus assets such as the Natatorium to investors who can refurbish the property and lease it back to the School District;

Capturing some of the $4.5 billion in federal grant money available for our schools in California;

Installing solar panels on the roofs of our schools that will save $600,000 in utility bills.

Language, art programs;

Senior-Student Mentor program;

Internship programs;

Therapy dog program;

Elimination of bureaucracy and red tape program;

Detention and security programs;

Foreign exchange student program;

Hold-Back program, and others. 
 
If someone wants to contact me about more details on these programs, my email is zirgulisr@yahoo.com
 
Robert Zirgulis is a candidate for the School Board in the Nov. 3 election.

Of Course It Matters Who Wins, and Here Are Reasons

By  Frances Talbott-White

The question whether anything MATTERS may be asked on a cosmic level.

But with all due respect, this is not the level upon which thefrontpageonline.com generally conducts its dialogue.

If we want a more focused treatment of the question of whether it matters who wins the School Board election, we have to add some criteria.

For starters, “matters TO WHOM” and “matters IN WHAT TERMS?”

If you're a potential candidate choosing between a run for City Council and for  the Culver City Unified School District Board of Directors, this will be a very personal question based partly on your self image and the trajectory of your career path.

I submit that few of your readers fall into this rarefied category.

If you're a potential voter deciding whether to vote in the Nov.  3 School District election, your criteria are different.

If you're trying to figure out whether it MATTERS if you vote, you may appreciate the suggestion that it doesn't MATTER who's elected.

Like at least 4 out of 5 of Culver City's registered voters in recent elections, you will leave the decision to those of your neighbors to whom it MATTERS.

Having read thefrontpageonline.com, you may stay home with the feeling that you are right to remain outside the fray.

I'll tell you what MATTERS to ME:
  
1. It MATTERS that we have our own School District in Culver City.
 
2. It MATTERS that state law requires this School District's policies to be set by locally-elected officials.
  
3. It MATTERS that five of our citizens care enough to consider serving on the CCUSD Board.

4. It MATTERS that all candidates for the CCUSD Board have every opportunity to inform the public accurately about their campaigns.

Finally, it MATTERS that our local press would imply it doesn't MATTER who's elected in any given election.

On a Related Subject

All six active candidates for CCUSD Board have posted their campaign info at SmartVoter.org, the League of Women Voters website that gives free webspace to candidates in state and local elections. Check it out at http://www.smartvoter.org/2009/11/03/ca/la/race/01365000/

The site also gives particulars on the LWV/PTA Candidate Forum to be held Thursday, Oct. 8, in City Hall Council Chambers.

Members of the live audience are asked to appear at 6:30 p.m., and cameras will roll at 7:00 p.m.

Ms. Talbott-White, a longtime executive with the League of Women Voters, may be contacted at talbwhite@yahoo.com

A Dissenter. One  Candidate Says the Lady, Except in Two Cases

By Gary Abrams

I agree with the lady.

She asks, “Does it truly make any difference which three candidates win the School Board race?”

No, it does not make any difference, if you remove Gary Abrams and Mr. “Z.”

It is obvious that the School Board wants like-minded people on with them.

If the machine had its way, the Board would consist of four law degrees, a double B.A. and Master’s degree or Ph. D.

Slightly different, but similar to the outgoing trio. I think it is commendable that all these people are working hard for the community, plus it looks good on their resume.

Could be a springboard to City Council.

Or, who knows? Sky’s the limit.  State office? Now that is where the real money is.

The mother lode $$$$$$.

Like minds think alike. It is good for camaraderie. It is the testing ground for the immoral behavior of our elected officials.

Hey, if you accept and say nothing about the abuse and neglect of our kids, then you are our kind of guy.

We may let you in. Heck, we will even fund your campaign war chest. Hey, money is no object, except when it becomes time to fund our kids’ education. Sorry.

The lady in question explained why she would never even consider the School Board. “On the City Council,” she argued, “you can make a difference, whether in policy or otherwise. Lots of maneuvering room. I believe members of the School Board are much closer to being figureheads and hold ceremonial, neutered positions.”

That’s funny. She read my mind. She is not only wise, she must be psychic, too.   
She also observes, “What decisions do you make? Who is laid off and who stays at budget-cut time?”

Now the lady is misinformed. Reliable sources told me that the Superintendent made decisions and the School Board was just a rubber stamp.

“If Abrams and Zirguilis are elected on Nov. 3 along with any of the other four, will it make a difference the way the Board runs? Or the way the School District operates?”

She also states, “I have read criticism about the supposed fifth and sixth candidates Gary Abrams and Mr. ‘Z.’”

I thought they were compliments myself.

Just means that we are different.

Thank God.

You may never get the answer to that question, if the “machine” has its way. It grinds on.

Mr. “Z” has been labeled a lunatic snake oil merchant. And now he wants to sell the neglected and abandoned District property the Natatorium for $10 million to raise money for the School District.

Come on, Mr. “Z.” $10 million? 

Now I am getting worried.

Other than those two lapses, the guy is pretty bright. Have a lot of “other” ideas. He just does not know how to keep the target off of his back.

I have been labeled un-sophisticated, and that was by a friend.

Can you imagine what Ari Noonan and his clan (or is it k?) have called me. Please, do not go there.

As I have previously stated in an article that I have sent to all the local new organizations, I am new to politics.

Never been interested before because, as everyone knows, it’s all about the “MONEY.”

Well, my feelings have not changed.

But now I have to be interested in politics because our kids and our country’s future depend upon it. 

The “School Board,” the most important elected position, even more than the President.

Actions and policies made by this small but powerful group have a lifelong effect on our kids. School is their first experience in the community outside the comforts of home where they now have to deal with people who may not always have their best interests at heart.

It is here that they may first be exposed to the “life is not fair sometimes” syndrome. Just because they are small, do not think for one minute that they do not notice things.

These “little people,” as I call them, are fascinating to watch grow.

Smarter than you think.

Mostly, they tell you the truth. They speak from the heart.

There is no question where you stand with them.

What has been customary with this School Board is the need to blend.

Make no waves.

Sail through uneventfully. 

Nothing changed and nothing accomplished.

I have one question.

With all this “brain power,” how come you are no match for a bodybuilder who, after taking English classes at Santa Monica College and earning a B.A. by correspondence from the University of Wisconsin-Superior in business and international economics, Gov. Schwarzenegger?

Words of advice: You should request a refund.

I am sure you have taken enough money from our kids to make up for it. I hear you have taken money from the recycled cans and bottle program.

Look out, homeless. Hide your carts. He is after your cans and bottles, too 

It never ends.  

I have all the articles that may never get published by the “machine”-controlled outlets.

If you want to know more about me, go to the smartvoters.org website. It has a profile on all the candidates. Please explore all the sections of the highlights. I have many topics for discussion. Thought provokers!

One of the topics is, “Can Anyone Stop the Educational Terminator?” I have found the answer. Are attorneys smarter? Does it matter which law school they attend? 

“Parcel Tax, Measure EE — Can It Do All That It Says?” I have offered to discuss the merits of this measure in public, right here in thefrontpageonline.com.

Still waiting.

Still think I won’t make a difference?

This election is too important for the same old, same old.

Hi ya! Ari.

Just for the kids.

Gary Abrams is a candidate for the School Board, and he may be contacted at gabrams@ca.rr.com