The Decatur School Board incumbents all won reelection.
Wiseman was unopposed in District 1. At this moment the Election Board website is reporting that of 16 of 17 precincts (there are 15 in Decatur and 2 in the North District) in, Wiseman got 1408 votes. Collins 876 -- Henson 804-- Hire 737 and Coffey 734 in District 3.
Pretty close numbers and my bet is that name recognition brought it home for the incumbents.
Posts
What Individuals Must Do
2 hours ago
18 comments:
This makes me so angry. I am so ready to move. This school system is horrible and I am starting to lose hope that it will ever change. It is to bad. At least the govt. put the tax caps in place and they can stop robbing our pocketbooks every single year. Now since they can not get a hold of that they are going to rob our kids of the education they deserve. I am so sick.
I am sure all 3 of them getting into the sporting events last night on their free passes and handing out fliers did not hurt them one bit. At least they had to put some effort into it this time.
Thank You Bobby Hire and Natalie Coffey for trying to help all of us out. I know I appreciate your try and really wish you would have won!
Now maybe we will finally find out which schools our kids will go to. Sorry Coffey and Hire, You had my vote. Hopefully you will get your names out there a bit earlier for the next election, Lets keep this site up and running get more bloggers and really kick some butt next time. I believe with the changes coming in the next school year it will be a much easier task to defeat the incumbents.
Collins and Henson did not win by that many votes so the people who have been asking questions and studying the data must keep on insisting for accountability from the board and administration. Thank you Natalie and Bobby for all of your hard work in this campaign. Until the next election we must LOUDLY continue to ask questions, review information, and publish any and all atrocities.
GREAT! Another year of the same ol stuff. Another year of Stinson's Puppets doing whatever he wants them to do. Another year of the most expensive Administration taking more and more! No wonder people that have lived in DC all of their lives are now transfering their kids out of hear to Private Schools. Think about it...they would rather pay all this money to a private school and not to DC because they see where these schools are heading and that's DOWN!
MSD Decatur Twp - School Board
Precincts Reporting: 100
Votes Percentage
Judith Collins 932 27
Wm Dale Henson 930 27
Natalie Coffey 811 23
Bobby Hire 807 23
Not to take anything away from Natalie and Bobby (Great try lets get them next time)but these numbers are pretty sad 3480 Votes in total? considering we all voted for 2 school board members these numbers indicate that approximatley only 1740 People voted for School board today?
It would be an interesting comparison to see how many voters voted in Decatur township today. I voted about 11:30 and was only was about only the 75th voter for the day at the fire house.
anon 1:49 -- actually those vote counts include two precincts in the Mapleton-Fall Creek area where those residents get to vote on Decatur school board races. I will be looking to post the Decatur-only numbers as soon as I can find them.
Just a thought.... something seems odd about those numbers the Incumbents have.....unusual.
As of right now, the Election results on the Clerk's website does not have the actual precinct by princinct votes. But, looking at the two party unopposed races for Township Trustee - the Ds had 409 votes and the Rs had 1203 votes - so the total voters likely numbered not too many more than 1612 in Decatur. Hard to guess how many voters chose to leave that race blank on their ballot, but probably a low percent. I know in the two precinct located where I worked yesterday, nobody pulled a school board only ballot, and I presume that was the usual case in Decatur.
The larger turnout by Rs also likely pushed in a higher vote for Henson and Collins - Henson in particular active in party politics.
Thank you Bobby & Natalie for your willingness to step forward to try to get elected & serve on the School Board.
This year was the first time my husband or I have ever voted for School Board candidates because we usually don't know anything about them. In those cases we choose to let others who do have some knowledge about them make the choice. We would hate to influence the election towards a bad candidate. I would not be surprised if a lot of people feel the same way & therefore did not vote for any of the School Board candidates.
You realize of course that the system is totally broken? Next election....2012. Huffman/Greenwald will be running. They won't be beaten. it will be 6 YEARS yes 6 YEARS until a majority of the board can be elected! Even if someone beats Huffman and/or Greenwald in 2012, it still won't be a majority. Does anyone know how to change the election rules? Decatur needs go go to an MEMBER AT LARGE system where the one that gets the most votes wins. We also need to explore a 7-member board; with a member-at-large format and terms that would turn the board over every other year. Folks, you're really really REALLY screwed with this system the way it is now! You realize of course that there will be absolutely no accountibility with this board? They now know that it will be a MINIMUM of 6 years before a change can take place! Stinson will not have to move to a new job; he'll work in Decatur another 6 years and retire as a millionaire. Please; someone research and get the factual information as to how this system can be changed! As Pat has proven time and time again, laws have been broken. Strangely, there are no consequences for these laws being broken other than "elect a new board". Guess what folks; 6 more years! (or more.....).
Make their lives misserable. Tney wanted it; they got it. Go to meetings; speak up. Ask for information in writing; keep track of how long it takes to get it (if you even get it). Put your time where your mouth is and volunteer for the "commitees" they have. See if they'll even have you on a commitee; they're hand picked and will tell you no.
Our kids deserve better than this. Yes, the people have spoken; and yes the system worked as it is in place. Bottom line is that it's BROKEN and needs fixed!
Appreciate all the work of Coffey and Hire but we all know in all elections the winners and losers are in terms of total vote counts and people who are demanding change did not get the total vote count. There must be continued press put on the Indiana Teacher Retirement Fund officials, the teachers association, the State Department of Education, and local legislators. Many, many people will need to contact these officials. Agree that there must be large attendance at school board meetings if for no other reason than to say "the public is watching you" since you have not watched yourselves. Until they STOP having their public feasts prior to board meetings, someone needs to sign up to speak and then say "Please, stop using public money to fill your bellies. Thanks." Another person can sign up to speak and say "Please, stop padding the retirement packages. Thanks." In other words, eventually there will be media attention.
Don't let one election stop the work of those many who voted for change. Don't count on Stinson getting a new job - his reputation is pretty well known.
Well, they all had a big celebration today at C.O I would just bet that Taxpayers paid the tab. They are also having an executive session Friday morning at 10:30. Catered I am sure....
Pat,
How do these numbers compare to previous elections?
Pat, can you find out how many votes there were in the north district precincts?. I think we forgot about them.
anon 5:54 - spending somebody else's money is their specialty. Now their rubber stamping board will try to get them even more money to waste.
anon 6:43 -- I will have to do some digging, so let me get back to you on that.
anon 7:24 -- I intend to get these numbers, but the precinct by precinct count has not yet been posted. I'll report them as soon as I can.
anon 3:29 - in two years, 2012, we aim for Huffman and Greenwald, if they run. But, in four years, 2014, the majority will be up again - if the format isn't changed.
The Board is required by law to redistrict after every census to ensure equal population districts. So, changing how many Board members and the requirements for their residency within the District can easily be changed at that time. I think the law says they must redistrict either in time for the 2012 election or during that year.
We could also push on the Legislature to move school board elections to November, when more people go to the polls, as a rule.
Thank you Bobby and Natalie for trying. The votes seemed to be pretty close considering, but MSD Decatur is a name game in this township. The best we can hope for right now is that Stinson goes to Alabama. Also that the census causes redistricting that will change the mess we have in our township for the next election. We need to find a way to get our voices heard and hold these board members and the administration accountable. They are elected to listen and do what is truly right for the community. But we also have the state DOE to get our complaints heard. Use the chain of command to benefit this community if need be. Education doesn't end with the township decision.
ANON 12:40 This should be how it is.
"We could also push on the Legislature to move school board elections to November, when more people go to the polls, as a rule."
The Primary's are a joke for the most part. I did not know that a school board only ballot even existed until I read this blog and I feel like I am somewhat up on politics. Maybe if more people know this for the next election we can get more voters to the polls for the primary elections. It kind of stinks when you have to go tell your neighbor that has every democrats yard sign possible in their front yard that you would like a republican ballot.
Post a Comment