Candidate Statement and Brief Biography for NCN

I was asked to submit a biography and candidate statement for publication in NewCastleNOW.  Here is what I submitted.

Jeffrey S. Mester:  Candidate Statement and Biography

Candidate Statement

This is my third time running for the School Board and I can safely say that the oddity of running for a volunteer position never seems to go away.  We are asking you, the community, to select us as the best, most appropriate volunteer.  So, first, I would like to recognize my fellow candidates, Warren and Rick, for their willingness to volunteer.  I admire their decision to offer to commit their time to the community.

One of the reasons I originally ran for the Board six years ago was because of my strong belief in my responsibility as a community member to serve our community in a way that best suits my qualifications with the community's needs.  That remains true today.

New York State says the qualifications for school board membership are an ability to read and write, be  a qualified voter, and be a resident of the district for at least one year prior to the election.   Not a very high bar indeed. 

Any candidate that receives enough votes can be a member of the Board of Education, but to be an effective member of the Board requires much much more.   It is not simply about being smart and having the time.   It is not about representing one segment of the community.

As  one of my fellow candidates will learn, there is a lot more to the job than the hot button issues.  It is easy to identify problems; it is much harder to offer solutions and make decisions.  I am the only candidate who can stand on a proven, successful track record of doing just that.

Being a school board member is about, first and foremost,  having a passion for education.  It is also about understanding education law and regulations, about understanding the budget, and about listening.  Listening to the community, listening to the students, listening to the administrators, listening to the staff,  and listening to your own gut.

Going forward, I will continue to work for ALL members of the community to reach responsible budgets.  I will further seek to reduce the burden on taxpayers by strengthening the public-private partnerships such as with the Chappaqua School Foundation and the Sports Boosters.  I will continue to support openness and transparency.  I will continue to support and seek public involvement and input. 

The Board cannot and should not face the challenges ahead alone.  We need community involvement and support. I will seek to bring the various interest groups including residents with children in the schools as well as residents without, and district personnel together to collectively and creatively find sustainable solutions for our district.

For the past six years, I have worked tirelessly on behalf of the members of this community to be an effective member of the school board.  It requires a person with an extensive and detailed knowledge of the district, a complete understanding of the budget and the structural budget issues the district faces, a person who can make practical and reasoned decisions, a person who is flexible and can build consensus, a person who can balance competing community interests, and a person who has vision and conviction.  There is no experience like direct experience and a proven track record.  I stand on mine.

Simply put, common sense with an uncommon commitment.

Brief Biography

I am 51 years old.  I have three terrific children one of whom graduated from HGHS last year and two currently in high school.  All three started in the district in Kindergarten at Roaring Brook Elementary School, attended Seven Bridges Middle School, and then went on to Horace Greeley High School.  My professional background is in the trading of equities and equity derivatives.  Most recently, I have been in the compliance side of the business.  I have an undergraduate BA in Economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from the Kelllogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. 

Reply to Comments and Questions on NCN

In response to this NewCastleNOW article and the comments below that article.  This is the unedited version from before I tried to get it into one 2000 character comment box.  

Usual disclaimers apply.  I do not speak for the Board of Ed.  I speak only for myself. This is not a district statement either.  Shake well before using.  Refrigerate after opening.  Your mileage may vary.

To C-O-N-T-R-O-L:  I can think of many reasons both positive and negative why we would want questions asked privately.  But, I think it is safe to say that whenever the Board or Administration replies to an email, it assumes that that email can and will be made public.  I do.

I do not agree with your assumption that it makes our job a lot easier if people don't hear each other's criticisms. That is only the case if you also assume our job is to ignore the public.  While I recognize that some people think that, I view our job as actually the opposite of that.  While I don't think we should just be a weather vane twisting in the wind with the latest opinion, I do think that we are elected as fiduciaries to the community and as such have an obligation to listen to what the community has to say which by the way can include complements.   If you read the post on my blog about deciding to run or not, I address this there.

I think it is also important for the community to know that the Board is not always in a 5-0 agreement on how to do things, but we do act as a consensus Board.  In general, after a consensus of the Board is taken, the President of the Board will fashion a response that reflects that consensus.  Whether I support that consensus response, I will always support that this is a majority rules Board and that the President has certain power/authority/obligation to respond in a way that (s)he sees fit within the consensus.

As for the last meeting and the timing of the two statements, I can tell you there was nothing Machiavellian about them. After almost 6 years on the Board, I can tell you that the announcement about the administrator's contract was put first, for two reasons.  One, it was not on the agenda anywhere because of the timing of the agreement with the Board (not agreed upon until after the agenda was made.  Agendas are generally set on the Thursday or Friday prior to the next meeting.) so it was put first, and, two, it was good news for the community in terms of the budget impact.  The meeting was primarily focused on the budget. Hence, put the budget item first.

The so called Tim Bloom response was not purposely moved to 11:00 pm or later in the meeting so no one would hear it.  First, Tim never wrote directly to the Board.  He wrote to the administration and published it here on NCN.  So, it was a little confusing as to who the Board would actually be responding to.  In the end, we were responding to the community in general, but we never got one direct piece of correspondence from anyone in the community about it. Writing anonymous comments on an internet blog is a very inefficient way to communicate with the Board.  (Any Board.)

Second, there are few people attending the meetings.  Most watch it on replay or on NCMCTV online.  Anyone could fast forward to find the portion they are looking for.  Third, it was on the agenda in the Superintendent's and President's report. Ironically enough, it comes later in the meeting because we moved the presentations to the beginning of the meetings so that the public could come to watch that and not have to wait until the end.  When I first got on the Board and prior to that, the business section came first and then the presentations.  We got criticized for that and changed it.

Legally, we are required to have an agenda.  It makes sense to stick to it as much as possible as we are also required to publish it in advance.  Some have suggested that we start earlier.  We have considered that.  I for one, would love to get home before midnight on a meeting night.  But, there were other considerations and other points of view.  In the past, we had a lot of feedback that starting earlier would make it particularly difficult for those with students in elementary and middle school to attend.  Between dinner and bedtime, starting at 7:00 or 7:30 would be a hardship for many.

One of the interesting things that happened at the last meeting is relevant here.  I am not sure how many people noticed it, but we received an email with several questions from a resident who was unable to attend the meeting.  President Tipp actually read the questions during the appropriate part of the presentation.  It is certainly a way to ask a question while not having the pressure or whatever of coming to the microphone.  I will sometimes email questions to the presenters in advance so that they are prepared to answer them publicly. I don't think it is fair to the public when someone says they will get back to you on that.  Then the response is not on the record.  Feel free to email the Board with questions you might have in advance.  If you send it to the President and/or all the Board members, I think the President would be more than happy to represent your questions at the appropriate time.

On a slightly similar note, Christine has been prodding the Board for several years to make its meetings live.  One of her concepts with having it live would be to have the ability for someone watching at home to ask a question maybe through email or a text or something. It is certainly something to be considered, although I have never seen it in practice.  I have suggested to Christine that I would be willing to do a live online forum answering questions.  I envisioned it something along the lines of a Reddit Ask Me Anything.  If I decide to run for a third term, I would definitely be willing to answer any question I legally could on any subject.

I think this Board has gotten an undeserved reputation by some of the anonymous commenters here on NCN as a closed Board.  Nothing is farther from the truth.  We have gone out of our way to be as transparent and forthright as we can.  Some items, particularly personnel and legal items, we are precluded from speaking about publicly.  It is frustrating to us too when we cannot speak about something we would want to otherwise.

Yes, we have a three minute stated limit on questions.  However, I can only remember two times where we actually imposed that limit and with those two times, we simply told the person they could ask additional questions after those who have not had a chance to ask any question yet already did so. Quite frankly, if you cannot ask one or two questions in three minutes time, then you are making a speech. I cannot think of anyone who has not had a chance to ask their question or make a comment at one of our meetings.

Do we get defensive at times? Sure, we are human.  We are also volunteers.  We are trying to do our best.  Really.  I recognize that we will not always be universally applauded for some of our decisions.  There are many issues where the community itself is divided.  I personally get frustrated when people think because we do not agree with them or do not take a certain course of action they support that we don't listen.  We listen, we deliberate, we consider ramifications and we decide.

I just want to make one more point about anonymous comments.  I get why some who make comments wish to remain anonymous.  It can be scary criticizing teachers or administrators when your child is in school. There is one school of thought that your child could be subject to retaliation.  Believe me when I tell you that I considered it myself when I speak out or when we negotiate, etc.  While it is a concern, I know the leadership of all the unions well.  I know many of the teachers in the district personally.  I give them more credit than thinking they would even dream of retaliation.  They are professionals dedicated to teaching.  It is just not something that would enter the mind of the staff.

I personally don't mind criticism.  I do mind personal attacks.  Question my thought process, question my vote, question my decisions, but don't question my integrity, don't call me names, don't make statements you know to be false or ones you don't know to be true.

I oppose anonymous comments.  I think using your name leads to a more civilized dialogue.  I think using your name gives your comment more credibility.  I get that some people want to hide behind the cloak of anonymity, but I don't condone it.

Finally, I wish the community would recognize that we are volunteers trying to do our best.  We don't get paid, we don't have any perks that I am aware of, and we don't get benefits.  We do spend a lot of time, we do work hard. and we do want to engage the public.  If it was such a great job, more people would be trying to do it.  It is a rewarding job if you care about education, care about the students and care to serve your community.  A wise former board member told me on the way out the door, that it is only a thankless job if you are expecting thanks.  I am not.

Edit: Feel free to post a comment here on my blog. I will reply to all that ask a question or ask for a reply.

Budget Advisory Committee

On Friday September 30th, Christine Yeres an editor and blogger for NewCastleNOW, posted a story about a school board budget advisory committee.  In that blog posting, she makes a big point to emphasize that the committee's meetings are not open to the public.

First, she misstates that these meetings are Board committees.  They are not.  There are no Board members attending or leading this committee.  What?   The administration is trying to hear from the public directly without Board interference?   Last year, the finance committee of the Board consisting of me and Randy Katchis lead a committee of about 25 community members split into 3 groups working on issues related to the budget.

One group, working on ways to communicate with the public, ultimately suggested the Board conduct a survey of the community to help ascertain what the community valued (and did not value) with the CCSD education structure.  That group even spent hours attempting to write up such a survey.  The Board last year agreed with the recommendation and determined that it was such a good idea it was worth spending money to get accurate and statistically relevant results.  

This year, before the end of October, the Board will receive from the private firm hired to conduct the survey, the preliminary results of the survey.  We are looking forward to hearing from ALL segments of the community, from folks with children just entering the school system to empty nesters and everyone else.

Second, the group approved a flyer developed and written by the sub-committee dubbed "the mandate group".  We approved of the flyer, posted it on our website and agreed with the principles espoused in the document, mainly seeking ways to get mandate relief and to change the system including the Triborough amendment to the Taylor law as well as the defined benefit pension system.

Third, the Board approved the continuation of the group that was trying to analyze the districts allocations on spending and compare them to other neighboring districts.  This is the group currently meeting that a few folks seem to be upset that they cannot attend.

To me, one of the the flaws of the system last year was that all three sub-groups were part of the same committee.  In hindsight, there should have been three separate groups.  There should have been a group that met to discuss ways to better communicate with the community both with the budget AND in general.  There should have been a group a little broader than focusing only on mandates that was more targeted toward being a political action committee that dealt with mandates and was an ongoing committee that could help address all interactions with Albany on an ongoing basis.  Three, there should be a group that helps analyze the specific numbers of the budget and does comparisons to other districts and maybe devises their own metrics to measure success and efficiency of the budget.

Another flaw with last year was the timing of the committee meetings meaning they started too late to affect last year's budget much and with the timing of the board responding to what was produced.  If you watch the  first meeting of the board when I tried to get the school board to accept the reports and suggestions, you will see one of the most frustrating (2nd behind not approving Wednesday as the meeting date for this year because the PTA did not want to do the work to change the calendar) meetings of my 4+ year board career.

When I was quoted in the NCN blog as having said that I thought that a problem with last year's committee was that it became a political platform, I think some members of the community are misconstruing what I meant or I did not do a good enough job explaining.  I think that ALL three of the subgroups had a bias.  Three different bias'.  That was a natural result of the members of the various sub groups.  Of course there will be a bias if we are human.  

What I did not like was that rather than produce work, at times, from all three groups, when we got together as one group, there was political posturing rather than factual reporting.  That was true of all three groups whether it was discussing the special ed expenditures, the community feedback or what the board could or should do about mandates.

By having the community volunteers this year work directly with the administration, it eliminates the time lag between waiting for the board to accept and approve of the work, it eliminates whatever political agenda all the Board members have in accepting or rejecting a report of the committee and it allows the committee members themselves to focus on the work without interference.

It has also allowed the district to start the meetings sooner than last year with the hope that any result will be applicable to the budget produced this year (2012-2013 school year.)

As for whether the meetings should be public, I have no strong opinion either way.  On one hand, I support transparency, so having them be open would make sense.  On the other hand, once you introduce the public, it will change a few things but mostly, these are community volunteers.  As an elected Board member, I expect public criticism and the anonymous blog attacks.  They are what they are to me.  I have come to accept that if I just do what I think is right and remember my fiduciary obligation, then whatever is written about me or the Board is whatever.  I rarely read the blogs.  I get feedback in the forms of emails, direct comments, meeting comments, phone calls, etc.  Edit: Sometimes my kids tell me that another person called me an idiot on NCN.  They threaten to post their own complaints if I make them take out the garbage or clean their rooms.  "They're anonymous, Dad.  No one will know its us complaining."

I have learned that actions speak louder than words.  My favorite maxim or old world saying gets me through; "The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on."  Personal attacks, I ignore,  Constructive criticism I consider closely.  Suggestions are analyzed. Compliments accepted knowing you are "only as good as your last trade."

But volunteers on a committee that is trying to analyze district budgets or create metrics to measure the success of the administration and/or Board did not really sign up for that nor should they be subject to it.  Maybe we should release the names to Christine and Tom to show that it is a cross section and ask them not to publish them unless the individual oks it?  Is there a way to create public accountability without subjecting the volunteers to the noise?

The district has many committees that are not open to the public nor do we release names for those who serve.  Has anyone ever been to or wanted to attend other than the members themselves a wellness committee meeting? A green committee meeting? Etc.  This year, the new Superintendent, Dr. McKay has made it a priority to have meetings with the public to both get their feedback and to provide information and transparency to the community.  I think it is clear that the Board itself has tried to be as open as possible too.  

The last Board meeting on September 27th was a work session.  One complaint we have received is that the meetings go too late and we do all this boring approving or rejecting of various board business business.  On the 27th, we did not have any business.  We simply had two reports to the Board and public, the President updated the community on several issues including turf and the new iPads the Board is using to go paperless and streamline the meeting process as well as open up questioning to the community and reporters present to ask anyone anything.  We tried to make it more of an open discussion among Board members themselves and between the district and the community.

But, this change and the structure of the work session to allow earlier input from the community was not reported on by NCN or anyone else for that matter.  Instead, the focus was on the fact that a committee was closed.  Even if reporters came to these budget committee meets, would you trust them to report it accurately without their own opinion and bias?  (I recommend against expecting a complete and unbiased reporting.)

Granted, it was the first time we did it so there was not a lot of questions or comments, but hopefully the next time it will expand and become an important part of the interaction between the Board, the administration and the community.  And, as noted above, we are conducting a professional survey of the community.  Finally, as always, you are welcome to send suggestions, ideas, comments, criticisms and compliments directly to the Board via email (Board@ccsd.ws) or to us individually (First two initials of first name plus last name at ccsd.ws).

Edit (10/5/2011): As of today, the Board of Ed has received not one, not a single email directly to the Board (or me) with concerns about the Budget Committee.  

I can be reached via email at JeMester@ccsd.ws or if you want to ask a question here or have me post an answer here use comments@newcastlealternative.com.  And, you can use the button at right to call me too. (914-840-2233).  To post a comment to this article (or any article) use the form at the bottom of the article.

JSM

Edit:  You can also use the district's website (ccsd.ws) to ask a question.  Two years ago we implemented a feature called "Ask the District" so that you can submit questions about anything from the mundane (When is the 7 Bridges lot going to be paved --by the end of October, btw) to specifics (What percentage of the budget goes toward retirement funds)  There is a quick link to it on the left side of the home page.