News for Tuesday
As Gossips reported on Wednesday, there are three openings on the Hudson City School District Board of Education and only two candidates, which gives voters the opportunity to write in a candidate.
This evening, Peter Meyer, who won as a write-in candidate with 92 votes back in 2007, shared the news that he had asked Tom DePietro if he would serve on the BOE if people wrote in his name, and DePietro indicated he would. To quote Meyer, "Tom is smart, knows his education business, and is vested in this community." Meyer goes on to say, "Many of you know Tom from his radio show on local WGXC or his work as the new Planning Board Chairman. I know him as an editor (Kirkus Reviews), writer, and book critic who studied with noted education historian E. D. Hirsch at the University of Virginia." What Meyer doesn't mention is that DePietro was a candidate for Common Council president last November, with the endorsement of the Hudson Democrats, and might have won had it not been for the confusion resulting from Victor Mendolia's name still being on the ballot even though he had withdrawn from the race months earlier.
In this election, the school district is using the county's ballot-scanning machines for the first time, so the ballot will be similar to those used in political elections. The names of the BOE candidates will appear on the front of the ballot; the budget question on the back. The names of the two people who got a hundred signatures on petitions to become candidates--Sumayyah Shabazz and Linda Hopkins--will appear in the first two columns. The third column will be blank and provides the opportunity to write in a name.
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Thanks for stepping up, Tom.
ReplyDeleteI hope that people appreciate the changed circumstances after supposing their vote didn't matter very much.
I'm also supportive of the other candidates, one of whom is a math whiz extraordinaire (she'd never say such a thing in her bio, naturally).
Go for it Tom. IF peter thinks you are the MAN for the job that's good enough for me. Interesting!!!
ReplyDeleteBy the way Peter, did Ms. Suttmeier ever let you know that Mark Brenneman placed pictures of you in her office after you left the BOE. It was a bad joke that she became fearful about. But once it was discovered that it was Mr. Brenneman that was behind it and not me, it was ok.
Just to clarify, Maria Suttmeier was the source of that comment. She informed me that Mark Brenneman broke into her office and placed those pictures of you Peter. She thought it was a stalker. And another thing, she used you as a punchline in many administrative meetings. So you may want to temper your belief on what's she shares with you.
ReplyDeleteWell, it seems that this site is much more willing to venture the truth than other publications. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteTom, as Alan Chartock is fond of saying, "Politics is a contact sport" -- and he does not omit school politics from that assessment. Luckily, I played rugby in college and got used to getting kicked around on the field and drinking with the kickers afterwards; it's not a perfect model, but it has enough similarities, I hope to make my point. So, while I was on the Board of Ed I said many things about school district policy that did not endear me to HCSD staff (you included, as I recall), but never attacked anyone personally. But in the scrum that is politics, it nether surprised me nor offended me to hear, for example, that my picture was on a faculty room dartboard:) In fact, I was mightily impressed by staff's professionalism throughout my sometimes controversial tenure and am very encouraged that the current school culture is much less contentious and combative than it used to be. That is something that happens with leadership. And it's an environment where good guys like Tom DePietro and other thoughtful people can have an impact for the good of our kids! Onward. --peter m.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could explain to me what "politics" were used to have the State remove HCSD from the "focus List" when they have the worst Common Core scores in 90% of the public school districts.
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ReplyDeleteGuess everyone's busy.
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