Just in case you weren’t paying attention, Election 2014 is now in full swing in the entire state. At the top of the ticket are what early polls seem to indicate a tight race between Democrat Fred Duvall and Republican Doug Ducey for governor. Another notable race is the one for the Arizona Superintendent for Public Instruction between Democrat David Garcia and Republican nominee/Tea Party favorite Dianne Douglas. Ms. Douglas beat incumbent John Huppenthal in the last primary by hinging her campaign on her opposition to Common Core.
For Gilbert Public Schools (GPS) residents, statewide elections are not the only reason for catching election fever this year. GPS has two seats up for grabs in its Governing Board and unlike previous Governing Board elections, this one promises to be a nail biter. The current governing board has been so controversial in the past two years that it attracted the attention of the local media and for the sake of full disclosure, led to the creation of this site.
There are five candidates vying for the two open seats, which are currently held by board president Staci Burk and board member Jill Humpherys. Ms. Burk opted not to run for another seat, but instead endorsed Dawn Brimhall. Ms. Humpherys is running for another term. Her notable endorsements from Gilbert include the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, Gilbert Education Association, the Unite for Education campaign and former board member and city council member Dan Skousen. Other candidates are Ron Bellus, Reed Carr and Dr. Charles Santa Cruz.
Mr. Bellus is backed by board clerk Daryl Colvin and board Member Julie Smith. Mr. Carr received an endorsement for Gilbert Mayor John Lewis and several seating and former Gilbert City Council members, while Dr. Santa Cruz received endorsements from the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, Unite for Education, Gilbert Police Leadership Association and the Arizona Police Association.
Speaking of Unite for Education, this is an initiative formed by the Rebuild our Gilbert Board PAC, which was formed by a core group of committed community members—parents, business owners, educators, citizens, and property owners—who are concerned about the negative impact the current board majority has on our public school district and our town.
And if you are now just tuning in to the issues surrounding the best show in town, the board majority being referred to in the last paragraph are Staci Burk, Julie Smith and Daryl Colvin, who as we mentioned are backing candidates Ron Bellus and Dawn Brimhall.
Unite for Education aims to play a key role into this year’s governing board campaign. Campaign chair, Blake Sacha placed the following note last week into our Facebook Page:
September is almost here and the GPS school board campaign will kick into high gear. We need to reach thousands more people and get hundreds more volunteers. Please share this everywhere you can and encourage everyone to sign up. Together we can win in November!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
Noting all that, we figured that we needed to up our game. As this election comes into a fever pitch, we plan to get more folks informed, understand the issues and take the appropriate action come November. You will notice at the right hand side of our site the Take Action banner with the Vote for Gilbert T-shirt. To support our objectives, we started the Vote for Gilbert project, with hopes of further helping raise awareness about the issues surrounding our district.
By purchasing a shirt and wearing them around town you help us accomplish two things:
- Spread the word by promoting our site;
- Fund other awareness projects that will help our community: Get Informed; Understand the Issues; and Take Action.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.
Former Speaker of the House Tip O’neill is often credited for coining the phrase, “All politics is local,” and we say, what could be more local than a school board election?
All that being said, fasten your seat belts, folks! And enjoy the ride to November, it’s about to get more interesting.
Gilbert Public School Board Observer 
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