After hearing the candidates for Mifflin County School Board deliver their platforms Wednesday night at Indian Valley High School, I certainly know who I’m not going to vote for. To be blunt, the "Ticket to Chang_" is a no-go, as Tony Soprano would say. Walter Harpster’s opening remarks had to be the worst speech I ever heard. Thank goodness, he only had 30 seconds. As the people in the audience waited to hear him talk about the issues, he pointed to people in the audience, telling them he had them in school while a teacher for 34 years at Indian Valley. That was it. Apparently, he was reaching out to the teachers, trying to get their vote.
It didn’t get much better after that. He completely ignored one of the questions and said that the Mifflin County School District was 150 million dollars in debt. Huh. I don’t know where that figure came from because the district took out a bond issue to pay for the school and the effect it will have on the yearly budget is between 10% and 15% of operating costs. And the district has a triple A credit rating. A bank will give a home buyer a loan as long as the monthly payment of the mortgage does not exceed 35%.
I would like to give Walter his due but I just can’t. He says he’s a fiscal conservative, which I would have believed until I heard him say he wants Mifflin County schools to take over the vo-tech school. It certainly sounded like a good idea until Mike Lewis pointed out that Mifflin County would have to buy Juniata County’s share of the building and property, at a cost of 15 to 20 million dollars. Is that fiscally conservative Walter, or did you just not think things through? Nash and Parks support this idea also... Parks doesn't have anything between his ears and Nash is out of touch. At least Hower and Adams admitted to not knowing enough about it to venture an opinion.
I actually thought that Kristen Sharp and Travis Parks conducted themselves okay. But remember that Sharp home school’s her child and Parks bobs his head up and down whenever Kirk Rager talks. For that matter, so does Harpster. And Jim Hurlburt, Hello Jim...Where are you Jim? Didn’t see you there Jim. Better things to do, I’m sure.
Clearly, the most articulate and well-spoken of the candidates was Mike Lewis. He pointed out that voting as a group, like the "Ticket to Chang_" intend to do is not healthy for the school district. I agree. I like Jeff Adams’ ideas, although he did not articulate them very well Wednesday night. Nash is clearly a supporter of Dave Runk, while Hower quotes statistics that appear out of context at times. Sigler’s comments didn’t matter after she implied that she might close Union Elementary. It’s going to be hard for her to recover from this
I have heard many say that they are unsure who they want to vote for but are dead certain they won’t vote for the "The Ticket to Chang_": Harpster, Parks, Sharp, and Hurburt. I couldn’t agree more.
I know you’re waiting for my endorsement. But I’m going to hold off on that until next week. Stay tuned.
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Mifflin County Blog
12 comments:
Very insightful. I was in atendance too and your thoughts about it were just like mine.
How smart can Parkes, Sharp, and Hurlburt be if they look to Walter Harpster as their leader? If Harpster was a teacher in Mifflin County for 34 years, then our system really does need to change. That guy isn't smart enough to be a teacher.
Great Job blogger !!!
Sigler and Lewis are professionals and are very familiar with education. They should be sound in their platforms for election.
Hower / Adams have great intentions and their focus: the best interest for the students and seek proper fiscal constraints for the district.
THESE FOUR ARE THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE ON THE BOARD FOR THE STUDENTS.
You forgot to mention in your blog that Lewis and Adams are partnering. Now that's a good strong ticket.
Give us enough time to get the word out on who to vote for we are down to one week till election day. I agree with most of the people Lewis, Hower, Adams, and...??? Sigler I dont think has a chance and Nash seems like he just needs to go.
Lewis and Adams
What about the other races...Treasurer, District Judge and Sheriff? Do you have anything to report on them? I guess school board is the hottest topic!?!
Why all the fuss about who "the blogger" likes? Can't anyone pay attention and decide for themselves. What a group of sheep!!!
Well I am happy to find out your not endorsing any of the four on the ticket. But who will your odd man/woman out be. My family and i have not mad eour minds up yet either and would like your perspective. Do you have a proposed date in mind? Endorsements usually work best when there is several days for news to circulate when its made. The election is only five days away.
What makes someone who isn't even gutsy enought to reveal his/her identity so important that everyone 'wants' to hear the endorsement? What makes you so qualified? Please elaborate.
Well next week is over without an endorsement.. Im a little dissapointed. I was really intrested in who you would support.
Sigler also is a dem. so thats not going to help her at all...She may be a lost cause. Are you going to endorse four as you said in your latest blog?
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