the humbling realities of politics -- world

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Subject: the humbling realities of politics

Author:
krz

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Date Posted: 12/ 2/04 8:48:28pm
In reply to: pjk 's message, "Re: school board" on 12/ 1/04 8:04:13pm

thanks for the support pjk

At the suggestion of my in-laws I contacted the Walsh family in Tosa -- she served as mayor, he served 3 terms on school board, 2 as president and was on board when Harwood and 2 elementary schools closed (don't know which ones - before my time).

Some interesting insights:
(1) I'm not well enough connected to have this an easy election - no tradition of PTA service, no 'women's leadership' organizing here in Tosa -- no real strong ties other than the social ones I have which are rather limited - and quite honestly centered around family. My local social network is organized around work - all out of Tosa. Because I work outside Tosa (and because I work outside the home) my networks are not optimized for getting elected for anything local. Doesn't mean I'm unelectable (?sp) just that it's a bigger battle than I likely appreciate.
(2) 8-10 hours/week - we are a Unified School District so this is without pay (as opposed to MPS). Not that pay drives it, but time is money and I would give up work time to meet meeting demands (especially the early morning stuff). So, the cost to my family is not only in time, but in money as well - we're OK financially and giving back is part of the core values we try to both practice and instill. This may be a situation where the money could be spent better elsewhere.
(3) our legislative pull at the state level is weak to non-existant with our state rep (leah vukmir). Although not a direct impact on the campaigh, the biggest issues facing our district are due to state funding law and we have no hand in helping shape that law. This will hamstring any board (not my forte).
(4) I'm on the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Physical Therapy Assoc. and on a Family Advisory Board at Children's. I'd have to give at least one, if not both up. (although the PT thing is an elected position, and currently elections are running so there's a chance I might lose that one)
(5) Because I've been on committees that helped shape current school board policy, and because my opinions are part of the public record, I have no opportunity to soften a discussion. I wouldn't pander - but I've been villified in the local press for 'not listening' (WAY too long a story, but a community group presented a population statistics model that was fatally flawed - used inappropriate statistical analysis to model population data - and I happened to challenge it on merit). I've likely already galvanized a community without understanding that I have. This won't bode well in an election.

Hard decisions because I firmly believe a community deserves the school board it gets, and if people don't step up to the plate then......

The family trade off was too high......

Thanks for the support and sorry for the rant.

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