You want an action replay of what happened and how I scored the candidates? You got it. This first article covers the introductions and the first two questions. It’s brutal, it’s snarky… but it’s damned honest. I’ll promise you’ll laugh.
Here’s how I’m going to score this forum. Two points for a good answer, three points for a great answer. I’ll use the MUTE button and subtract a point for a worthless answer and I’ll give and take away points whenever I want because I’m the judge. HA!
Let’s start with the candidates are they introduce themselves:
- Alonzo Jones: Good introduction (+2), then he introduces people in the audience like he’s the host. (MUTE). Score: +1
- James Buckner: Quick and to-the-point (+3). Score: +3
- Gary Miller: He is who he says he is (+2). Score: +2
- Joyce Glaise: She uses her introduction to tell about people wanting her to run. Who? Too much self-promotion gets you a MUTE. Score: -1
- Dawn Witter: Starts off with a good introduction (+2) and plants her PFLAG support as part of who she is (+3). Damn, she’s strong to start with. Score: +5
- John Gilstrap: He is who he is as well (+2). Score: +2
First Question: What should be cut from the budget?
- Alonzo Jones: Good quick answer about finding a unneeded park survey (+3), then branches to what we need to spend the money on (+2). Five points brings his total to +6.
- James Buckner: Starts talking about zero-base budgeting (+3) then has no real answer because he needs to look at the budget to analyze it (MUTE). You should have already looked and analyzed it, it’s public record and I expect a candidate to know where the money goes (MUTE AGAIN). Buckner’s total is sitting at +4.
- Gary Miller: Says everything is potentially reviewable (+2). Miller has +4 points so far.
- Joyce Glaise: Said she’d have voted against the utility rate increase. That’s the utility commission’s job, Joyce (MUTE). Then she says she will always vote for a balanced budget. Um… That’s the law. you have to. Totally worthless answer. (MUTE MUTE MUTE and another MUTE). Gah. Glaise has a beautiful -5 so far and it’s looking bad.
- Dawn Witter: Would look at for redundant spending. Although I’ve never seen any, she gets a (+2) and moves to +7 for the night.
- John Gilstrap: John burns Joyce on the “balanced budget” crap by telling the law (+3). Nothing like a Gilstrap Bitchslap so he’ll get another (+2) for it. John’s at +7.
Second question: How do you hold the School Board accountable for the school system? This is a trap question because City Council can’t order the School Board around.
- Buckner: He’s caught off guard on this question and fumbles enough for a (MUTE). He drops to +3.
- Miller: Experience lets Miller avoid the trap and he answers correctly (+3). Total: +7
- Glaise: Talks about her previous experience as a social worker in the school system and the need for a mentor program (+2). She’s up to -3 now.
- Witter: Security and more teachers for smaller class size (+2). Total: +9
- Gilstrap: Correctly answers that there’s not much Council can do (+3) and then suggests a fixed amount per student funding formula (+3). He then goes off his rocker by thinking out loud that school boards could get taxing authority one day. When hell freezes over, John. (MUTE and another MUTE for even thinking that.) Gilstrap’s at +11.
- Jones: Talks about his school board experience (+2) and suggests joint meetings with them (+3). Alonzo Jones moves to +11.
After the introduction and two questions… here’s where they stand. Alonzo Jones and John Gilstrap lead the way at +11. Dawn Witter has +9. Gary Miller’s doing good at +7. James Buckner has had a slow start at +3. Somebody go find Joyce Glaise, because she owes us points. She’s at -3.
I’ll score the 3rd, 4th and 5th questions in the next article that I’m writing now.
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