Thursday, March 1, 2007
Voter Registration, Absentee Ballot information added
I've just added links to information in the New Jersey League of Women Voters "New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government" on how to register to vote, and how to apply for an absentee ballot for any election, including the upcoming School Board election on April 17th.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Well, I'm in!
This post marks my first on this blog, and it marks the beginning of my campaign for one of the two open seats on the Hopewell Valley Regional School District School Board. My campaign will end on 17 April, 2007 when the School Board election is held.
In our district, candidates must collect at least 10 signatures from registered voters eligible to vote in the upcoming election (the candidate may sign their own petiton - that would count as one of the ten). I waited until the last minute and was able to gather all the required signatures in just under 90 minutes by walking around my neighborhood around lunch time on Monday. Of the nearly two dozen houses I visited, in nearly every instance if the door was answered, I was able to get a signature - the exceptions were the foriegn nationals that have been in America for over 13 years, one woman who was house sitting and lived outside our diistrict, and one nanny that was not registered to vote.
In my conversations, a few themes were repeated - one was that the school board seems to "think they have a blank check" and their poor communication. I think these are two of the major themes of the upcoming election.
Many residents complain that the school district spends way too much money per student - that's something I plan to look into real soon, I'm curious about not only dollars per student, but also the various expenses that comprise that per-student grand total.
Another frequent complaint has to do with poor comunication - even when many residents agree with the action taken by the school board, they are frustrated by the way the school district chooses to inform residents about their decisions and actions. If I had one thing I would like to see changed, it would be the amount of information provided by the school district to the residents. The current school board until recently hands out information the way a doctor hands out medicine -in measured amounts, in response to a problem/symptom. I would prefer that information flowed from the school board like water from a tap, with the bulk of the information being shared in advance of any decision being made - not to explain where a decisoin came from.
While some may think it odd for me, a student in pursuit of a Masters degree in Internet Engineering, to suggest that the flow of information need not involve anything more sophisticated than pages sent home with students form the school and reporting on school board meetings in the local papers, but until the schol board can manage that level of communication it seems excessive to promote technical solutions that require greater effort.
Anyway, there is more to come - please keep your browser pointed here for additional updates as the election progresses, and if there is some topic you would like me to consider, please feel free to comment to my postings.
In our district, candidates must collect at least 10 signatures from registered voters eligible to vote in the upcoming election (the candidate may sign their own petiton - that would count as one of the ten). I waited until the last minute and was able to gather all the required signatures in just under 90 minutes by walking around my neighborhood around lunch time on Monday. Of the nearly two dozen houses I visited, in nearly every instance if the door was answered, I was able to get a signature - the exceptions were the foriegn nationals that have been in America for over 13 years, one woman who was house sitting and lived outside our diistrict, and one nanny that was not registered to vote.
In my conversations, a few themes were repeated - one was that the school board seems to "think they have a blank check" and their poor communication. I think these are two of the major themes of the upcoming election.
Many residents complain that the school district spends way too much money per student - that's something I plan to look into real soon, I'm curious about not only dollars per student, but also the various expenses that comprise that per-student grand total.
Another frequent complaint has to do with poor comunication - even when many residents agree with the action taken by the school board, they are frustrated by the way the school district chooses to inform residents about their decisions and actions. If I had one thing I would like to see changed, it would be the amount of information provided by the school district to the residents. The current school board until recently hands out information the way a doctor hands out medicine -in measured amounts, in response to a problem/symptom. I would prefer that information flowed from the school board like water from a tap, with the bulk of the information being shared in advance of any decision being made - not to explain where a decisoin came from.
While some may think it odd for me, a student in pursuit of a Masters degree in Internet Engineering, to suggest that the flow of information need not involve anything more sophisticated than pages sent home with students form the school and reporting on school board meetings in the local papers, but until the schol board can manage that level of communication it seems excessive to promote technical solutions that require greater effort.
Anyway, there is more to come - please keep your browser pointed here for additional updates as the election progresses, and if there is some topic you would like me to consider, please feel free to comment to my postings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)