BURKEonBOARD

(Oct. 30, 2008) – Here’s a last minute reminder about the second school board candidates forum.

It’s tonight (Thursday) at 6:30 p.m. in the Farmington High School Little Theater (same place as last week’s forum).

This one is a little different. It’s a collaboration of the honors civics class students of Jon Holmes at Farmington Middle School West and the seniors at the Farmington Rambling River Center.

The students will be asking the questions and we’ll do our best to answer them. Please come out to see the forum in person as it appears it will not be on the cable or recorded. If that changes, we’ll let you know.

DISCLOSURE: One of my daughters is in Jon Holmes’ civics class and will be among the students asking questions, but I don’t think she’ll be allowed to ask me a question and she told me a few days ago that she couldn’t give me any inside information about the questions because “that would be wrong.”

Darn!

(Oct. 27, 2008) – As an incumbent and chair of the Farmington school board, Julie McKnight bears added responsibilities in this campaign to tell us what she plans to do on two important issues we can expect board action on after the election, but before January (when the new board is seated).

Why this timing?

It will spare McKnight from making unpopular votes before the election and it will let the current board take away those decisions from the next board.

The two issues are renewing the superintendent’s contract and selling bonds and raising taxes to fund those bonds.
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(Oct. 27, 2008) – Hope you got a chance to see the school board candidates forum last Thursday evening. It was a good chance to see the candidates side-by-side. If you missed it live, you can watch replays on the EdChannel (cable channel 10) at 5 a.m., 11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. daily. If that doesn’t work for you, watch the video on the Farmington Independent web site at http://www.farmingtonindependent.com/pages/debate100808. Also take a moment to read the readers comments on the Independent site from folks who watched the forum. Lots of strong opinions.

The ISD192 Watch web site also has a few interesting takes on last week’s forum. Process This, Why Get Rid of NCLB? and Economic Situation Will Affect ISD 192 all look at issues that were discussed at the forum and are definitely worth a read.

There will be a second school board forum. The Rambling River Center and the civics student of FMSW teacher Jon Holmes are collaborating to stage the next forum this Thursday, Oct. 30, at 6:30 p.m. in the Farmington High School Little Theater. The seniors and the teens are putting the questions together so it should be interesting. Haven’t heard if this will be carried on the cable or not, so plan to come out and watch it live.

(Oct. 23, 2008) – The Rotary Club’s school board candidates forum is tonight at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater at Farmington High School. Come out and watch. There may be an opportunity (not guaranteed) to submit questions. If you can’t make it, the Farmington Independent will stream the forum live (and archive it for later viewing, too) from their web site.

The Pioneer Press has posted their Farmington school board candidate profiles with Q&As from the candidates. You can read it here. (Conspicuously absent, current school board chair Julie McKnight.)

The Farmington Independent has also published its voters guide with Q&As in today’s issue. It’s not online as of late morning but it be available later. Here are the questions and my answers to the Independent.
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(Oct. 20, 2008) – A couple of letters to the editor in last week’s two local papers require a response because of grievous factual errors. I have sent the following letter to both papers but don’t expect it to be printed in its entirety because of the length. The full letter is included here.

Dear letters editor,

I feel obliged to respond to the misinformation in recent letters to the editor about my school board candidacy printed in these pages and web site.

The writer’s most damning comments are based on incorrect information.

With regard to finishing what I start, as a city council member in Grand Forks, ND, from June 2000 to June 2002, I finished the term to which I was elected. It was a two year term instead of the normal four year term because of the reapportionment after the 2000 census. In fact, I remained in Grand Forks to finish my term even after my wife and daughters had moved to Farmington.
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(Oct. 19, 2008) – The school board candidate forum has been confirmed. It will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 23, in the Little Theater, Farmington High School.

The Farmington Rotary Club is sponsoring the forum with the Farmington Independent newspaper carrying the forum live from their web site, scheduled to run an hour, but don’t surprised if it goes longer.

Each candidate will get two minutes to make opening and closing statement and to answer each question, so if all six candidates use most of their time (I’ll try not to) there will only be time for three or four questions.

According to the rules distributed to the candidates, the moderator, Mike Burville, will asked prepared questions, and if time allowsthe moderator will ask question from the audience. The forum’s question committee is taking suggestions from the public. If you have a question you’d like to see asked, send it to editor@farmingtonindependent.com.

No word yet if the forum will be carried on the school district’s cable channel, so plan on attending or listening on the internet if you want to know where the candidates are on the issues they’re questioned about.

See you there.

Here’s a quick rundown of things you might want to know.

School Board Debate Likely

The Rotary Club is stepping up to host a candidates forum for the school board contest. It should be confirmed later today. Right now, they’re contacting all the candidate to make sure everyone can attend. It’s tentatively scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m., in the Farmington High School Little Theater (same place the school board meets). Thanks to the Rotary Club and the Farmington Independent, which will carry the forum on it web site, for taking on the job. Stay tuned for confirmation.

Special Board Meeting on School Boundaries

With two three-grade middle schools and a fifth elementary school coming on line next year, new school attendance boundaries are being drawn. The ISD192 Boundary Adjustment Committee will present its recommendations at a special school board meeting next Monday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m., at the Farmington High School Little Theater. It will be taped for broadcast on cable channel 10. Other presentations are set at Akin Road Elementary, Tues., Oct. 21, 7 p.m., and Farmington High School Little Theater on Wed., Oct. 22, 7 p.m. Comments and questions about the process can be sent to boundaries@farmington.k12.mn.us.

School Name Suggestions Wanted

The committee named to name three Farmington schools is seeking suggestions. You can suggest new names for all three buildings – the current high school, Farmington Middle School West, and Farmington Middle School East – over the next several weeks. Suggestions can be made through Oct. 31. Submission forms are available at ISD 192 schools or online at www.farmington.k12.mn.us/naming.

New & Improved Burke4Board Signs Here

The new signs arrived yesterday. If you have an old one, we’ll be by to replace it. If you want one, drop an email (tim@burke4board.com) or call 651-463-9341 and leave your name and address where the sign should go and we’ll get it right out.

(Oct. 14, 2008) – We learned some interesting new information at Monday night’s school board work session about the prospective OPEB bond sale and accompanying tax increase. (Too bad you couldn’t see it for yourself because the school board forbids those meetings from being carried on the cable.)

Last night the board got a handout from district finance director Jeff Priess with lots of new information and cost projections going out 40 years and some very scary numbers. It included liability numbers that still wouldn’t be covered by the OPEB bonded trust fund, numbers approaching $1 million/year out past 2020. (continue reading…)

(Oct. 13, 2008) – A woman named “Barbara” writes to me occasionally about the school district and board election. Her most recent missive arrived last night reacting to a message sent earlier on Sunday (Monday afternoon’s school board “work session”).

The lack of tightening the (school district) budget is the worst. How much more can retired individuals like myself take in tax increases? We have lost our retirements and 401K funds, yet the School Board goes full steam ahead. When more and more housing goes into foreclosure and more and more businesses close, what will the School Board do?

Here is a turnip with no blood left to give!

“Barbara” makes an excellent point. Perhaps you’ve noticed the occasional news story about the declining economy, sinking property values (you’ll see how far yours has gone down when your preliminary property tax bill arrives soon from the county), mounting foreclosures, personal and business bankruptcies. (continue reading…)

(Oct. 12, 2008) – Thought you should know that there’s a new blog out there called Tim Burke Watch. The tag line of the blog reads, “Uncovering the tricks, tactics and outright lies of Tim Burke.” Apparently, these guys are not fans. But, that’s just a guess.

You should read it. I just found it this afternoon and now I subscribe. The first post is dated Friday, Oct. 3, so it’s fairly new.

I’ll make a deal with those guys. They can identify my tricks, tactics and outright lies, and I’ll do the same for them. They’ve made four posts so far and I’m counting about eight factual errors right now. I’m waiting for my polygraph machine to come back from the shop to know if these are actual lies. (continue reading…)