Almost ten days ago, Mt. Lebanon voters cast their ballots for up to four school board directors. As I had noted before, the results are as follows:
Republican ballot:
School Director MT LEBANON
Vote for not more than 4
(WITH 38 OF 38 PRECINCTS COUNTED)
Mary D. Birks . . . . . . . . . 998 19.72
Durwood Hill . . . . . . . . . 641 12.67
Michael Jon Riemer . . . . . . . 963 19.03
Dan Remely . . . . . . . . . . 1,391 27.48
William J. Moorhead . . . . . . . 1,049 20.73
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 19 .38
Democratic ballot:
School Director MT LEBANON
Vote for not more than 4
(WITH 38 OF 38 PRECINCTS COUNTED)
Michael Jon Riemer . . . . . . . 1,623 21.09
Dan Remely . . . . . . . . . . 1,064 13.82
Mary D. Birks . . . . . . . . . 1,980 25.72
Durwood Hill . . . . . . . . . 1,227 15.94
William J. Moorhead . . . . . . . 1,772 23.02
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 31 .40
So who won? As I understand it, and please correct me if I am wrong, the ballot should look something like this:
Birks, Moorhead, and Riemer will appear on both lines. Remely will be on the Republican line, and Hill will be on the Democratic line. (Thanks goes to a Lebo Citizens reader for explaining this to me. Not sure if he wants to be identified.)
But what about Independents? According to the Post Gazette, you have to be an Independent at least 30 days before the Primary to run as one in the November General Election. (Again, thanks goes to the same person.)
Unless we have an Independent that meets the criteria, it looks like we are stuck with the five candidates listed above. What bothers me is that Remely received more votes that Durwood Hill did. Mt. Lebanon, are you kidding?
I would love to hear who the fifty write-in names were. Can we come up with a successful write-in campaign? Are there Independents who will step up to the plate? If not, we're in for more of the same. In the words of the infamous Josephine Posti, "Ugh!"
25 comments:
Mr. Hill probably lost the teachers bloc when he correctly stated that state contributions to the school district haven't declined.
So, for that 75% of voters that couldn't find the time to vote, but want a representative school board, you better rethink your November strategy.
You can let the union run your district or you can put a knowledgeable, honest guy on the board!
Two things:
First, because Corbett (R)is in office, the top R vote getter should be first on the ballot. That would be Remely.
This would make Hill the last name on the ballot.
Second, I am considering voting for everyone except Remely to make sure he doesn't get back up there to continue the spin and errors that he has perpetrated the last 8 years. This despite the fact that I cannot stand the smugness of the other incumbent running for re-election.
I am now convinced that my R "friend" is more a part of the problem than someone who will solve our problems. The vote against a budget that he himself had forced the district into after 8 years on the board was the last straw. Pure election year grandstanding.
Enough is enough.
The board majority is not interested in a knowledgeable, honest guy on the board. If he were there he would expose Jan Cline and that would piss-off the administrators and the union.
It looks like a battle between Remely and Hill, unless something changes.
What a choice -- Remely or Birks! Essentially, taxpayers have to choose between having your pocket picked by a man or a woman.
This is why I am hoping some Independents and a successful write in campaign save the day. What steps must Independents take to get on the November General Election ballot? Come on, we can do this. Krista Harris was defeated.
Elaine
As long as stakeholders choose to surrender their vote to the teacher union voting bloc by staying away from the polls it won't matter.
That's how we ended up people like Cappucci and Cooper on the board.
One saw no need to listen to architects, structural engineers before proceeding with the HS renovation and the other has no grasp of simple mathematics. He believes a .54 mill increase is the same as a zero increase. He also spouts off that the district must keep pace with inflation. Ask him to compare inflation with district expenditures over the past 10 years or more.
6:13 has a good point.
Plus, if this was a movement, to unelect Dan Remely, it would only piss off Mrs. Birks more since she really wants him back on the Board.
I am sure she should would take him over Hill/Reimer/Moorehead any day.
So, let me get this straight. I can unelect Remely AND piss off Birks with my vote?
COUNT ME IN!
Speaking of elections--
Here's an assignment for our newly elected State Representative whom has or will be soon taking an oath to uphold the laws of Pennsylvania.
A post was made in "Lebo math at it's finest" by 9:14--
"This sentence is very specific... "School districts must also equalize millage for the first year post-reassessment, but they are not allowed to factor in any prior experience of assessment appeals."
Now, if our state representative and senator review the last school board meeting they will hear Jan Klein respond plainly and clearly to Mr. Huston that she did indeed factor in prior appeal experience in setting the new assessment rate.
Its doubtful our directors can figure the above out, but if our state representatives don't call for enforce of the rules, what are they good for?
How can you claim that 9:00 am?
Hill, Reimer and Moorhead ran with her on the same ticket. Hill apparently lost favor when he broke with the party line that Corbett had/was cut state money for school district. Which according to Klein budget report, Mary, Reimer and Moorhead can't understand.
If you haven't had your fill of Birks or Remely, then by all means keep voting for them.
The point, 10:25 is that we are guaranteed to have at least one of them.
If I had to choose between the two, do I want the R who knows no limits to what he spends but then votes against the very budget he himself crafted over 8 years of voting for every red cent of construction and teacher contract raises? Or do I vote for the one who is clueless when it comes to budgeting and backstabbing when it comes to other things.
And yes, I do know quite well Mary would have preferred Dan over anyone else on her ticket. She will, of course, dispute this in her electioning but ask her now if she thinks Dan is doing a good job. I don't think she will lie about that. She will say she thinks he is doing a yeoman's job! Then follow that up with who on her ticket could she do without should Dan win. In the privacy of the voting booth, I wonder which one Birks will throw under the bus. My guess is Hill.
Remember when Dan was quoted in the paper as saying that people tell him he is too important on the school board to move on to State Rep?
If I get to pick my poison I will choose the poison from someone of the other party rather than perpetrating any longer the myth that Dan Remely is a fiscally responsible "R".
Trouble with picking poisons. One way or another they eventually end up killing you (or in this case-- the community).
11:20 AM, yes, I think Birks would throw Hill under the bus. He has a brain. We can't have independent thinkers on the board. Look what she is doing to Goldman. But we have our misinformed R's voting for Remely because he is an R! We'll probably have the Trib saying how he is legendary.
11:20 AM, it is not over yet. I am not giving up. All we need is one more person.
Elaine
There's something about Mary...
Wasn't she the lifelong Republican that would lead one to assume she subscribed to the Republican Principles like--
I am a Republican because: [edited]
I believe that free enterprise and the encouragement of individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity. [I guess she now supports collective bargaining over individual initiative]
I believe government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn. [hmmm, guess individuals now only get to keep that which she doesn't want the state or teachers to take]
I believe the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations and that the best government is that which governs least. [wouldn't charter schools be private organizations, Mary? Didn't hold that principle to close to the heart once you got on the board, right Mary?]
I believe the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people. [she now wants more state money to pay for our local school spending. Harrisburg is how far from Mt. Lebanon?]
I believe Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times. [Dropped her R principles pretty darn quick!]
Finally, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government. [life long republican until....????]
Isn't anyone curious why the change in party affiliation?
12:31
Which one of the R's up there is doing any of that?
Goldman? Certainly not Ed or Dan.
Goldman is trying in my opinion. Fraasch and Hart certainly did. Dan talks a good tune but certainly doesn't deliver come performance time.
Kubit, not even sure he knew there were Republican principles.
To say that any of the 9 directors is so important that we can't afford to lose them is ludicrous.
Even the top dog, the big kahunna, the Superintendent is expendable.
Need proof, how many Super Duper Supers have we had since Smartschan retired in what 2002? Each when chosen for the top slot was the best educator that money could buy. Then we had to give them more money, because wesimply couldn't possibly afford to lose them.
So let's count...
Smartschan
Sable
Wilson
Allison and now the latest and greatest...
Steinhauer.
Looking back at only annual district performance, data Tell me the year each was hired and when they left.
No cheating!
Now tell me again that Dan is too valuable to lose!
The middle school renovation went over budget, the elementary renovations certainly did (Remely campaigned on eliminating change orders and lawsuits with contractors after those projects).
If Dan, Cappucci, Birks, Posti disappeared tomorrow the district would survive... possibly in better shape.
Tim will one day leave, so will Jan. None of them are MTLSD.
5:04, you are so right. Our families and parents are what make MTLSD great. 90% or more of academic performance can be explained by what's going on at the child's home. Our kids start out in kindergarten significantly out performing state and national scores on academic assessments (and the District obviously has nothing to do with that) and they continue to do so through high school. The values, economic standing, and engagement of our families is the secret formula to our (Mt. Lebanon) children's success.
6:18, I agree parenting is a very important factor in ML's educational system, but parents tend to live in their own bubble just like the teachers who think they are so indispensable. However, if the teachers are so important, why do they have to go to the Legislature to negotiate pensions, to the Courts to resolve other issues and to an arbitrator to jack-up the price of their contract that has been agreed upon four times?
Teachers ratings are a joke! They all get an S rating every year. Are you seriously telling me that all teachers are of the same quality? That is a bunch of nonsense and well-informed parents know who are the better or lesser teachers. So why can't we clean out the deadwood? Poor Board members!
And how about that MLEA union that filed a grievance for more pay than they agreed to work for? Those poor small-minded busybodies that have nothing better to do than squander legal fees on another pay grab. Who pays for the legal fees? The District pays half from taxes and the union pays half from union dues - and we get an arbitration decision that neither side understands and will be much more expensive than the $900,000 the Board admits to. Shame on the Teachers and the Board.
Someone asked me this question today. If there are four spaces for write in votes, what happens to our ballot if the same name is written in four times?
Elaine
8:16 you called it. Want to find out who the good and bad teachers are. Observe the busybody PTA scramble to kiss up to the principal when the next year's teacher/student assigents are being decided.
That is MTLSD's dirty little secret.
That's -- Observe the busybody PTA "moms" scramble to kiss up to the principals when next year's teacher/students assignments are being decided.
And then they move on to be school board directors...
That's how they fulfill the paybacks.
The order on the November ballot should be:
Remely (1391 R votes)
Moorhead (1049 R votes)
Birks (998 R votes)
Riemer (963 R votes)
Hill 641 R votes)
Since we have a Republican Governor the R with the most Republican primary votes is listed first, then the names in the general election are listed in descending order of votes received in the primary on the R side.
The names should appear on both the R ballot and the D ballot in the same order.
If we had a Democratic Governor the names would be listed in descending order of D votes.
At least this is the way the old voting machines worked. If this has changed with the new voting machines I am open to correction.
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