Let's Get Elected

Many of my posts concentrate on the frustrations of being a school board member  - especially in New Jersey. Sometimes I wonder why anyone would want to run for a seat - let alone do it five times! I can only conclude that the frustration of being on the sideline and the desire to do SOMETHING to turn the tide outweighs any perceived future pummeling! In any case, I give every prospective school board candidate the same advice I was given back in February 2007 when I threw my hat in the ring - be prepared to win!

 

That statement can, and should, be read two ways. Firstly, never go into the campaign season just for the experience, or to give it a try, or whatever. Assume that you are going to win and be ready to put in the work it takes to be a successful board member once you are elected - including giving up all of those evenings for three years.

Secondly, be ready to launch a winning campaign. If you are at that stage today, you have come to the right place. Here are my proven tips that will get you to the finish line "in the money".

• Declare Very Early or Very Late. Most candidates don't file their petitions until the final day, which is fine - no need to let anyone get a head start to defeat you. On the other hand, there was one year I made my intentions known very early, months before the deadline. It was my third run and I believed myself to be a very strong candidate and I was hoping to deter other candidates from jumping in. And it worked! I essentially ran unopposed with only three candidates vying for the three available seats.
• Raise $500 from family and friends. That's really all it takes, even today. In fact, there are plenty of successful school board campaigns that spent no money at all. Ask for donations of between $25 and $50. This will not only get you the cash you need but also build a group of between 10 and 20 committed supporters. Once people have donated they literally have a vested interest in the outcome and will be good advocates for the campaign. This forms a pool of people to draw from for "Letters to the Editor" on the local news websites.
• Purchase Lawn Signs.  I don't advocate spending money on anything else. I have seen so many campaigns that didn't put up any signs, and lost by a few votes. That was someone who didn't "prepare to win". Even one sign in front of each polling place might have been enough. In my day you could get 150 signs for $500 but perhaps now it's only 100. No problem - that will be enough.
• Employ a good sign strategy. Your lawn sign design should be as simple as you can make it. I went with my last name on top and "School Board" underneath. Anything else is a waste. Your voters are smart enough to know what town they are in and the date of the election - no need to inform someone else's voters of these facts. As far as slogans go - trite ones (think "for the children") will be mocked and others are difficult without context (in other words they may turn off as many people as they turn on!). Placement locations are easy enough. All of the polling places and all of the schools should get signs. Then, simply place a sign adjacent to the signs of other candidates. The rule of thumb here is that no one should see someone else's sign while not also seeing one of yours. Simple. If you are coordinating your campaign with another candidate, read the next bullet...
• No "Ticket" is the ticket! A few years ago New Jersey began allowing school board candidates to run together on one ticket and be listed together on the ballot. This can be problematic as voters don't always realize that they need to "pull the lever" for each individual candidate (it's not like voting for president where you get Dan Quayle as a bonus!). I suggest, instead, that like-minded candidates - ideally two - simply coordinate their campaigns. The most visible way to do this is by employing identical lawn sign color and design. This will immediately double (or triple) your campaign visibility on the highways and byways as drivers will recognize the color and design first before they even read the name. After that, simply endorse each other in your emails and social media posts. Note: I do not recommend running three candidates together as this has a tendency for all three to lose votes to each other when a voter has a personal commitment to a candidate outside of your group. In other words, when voters are left with two votes to give for your campaign they won't always give those votes to the same two candidates but rather spread them around among all three. Better to win two seats than narrowly lose two, or all three!
• Get the Social Media working for you. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter - none existed when I first ran back in 2007 but I did use Facebook extensively for my final campaign in 2019. Use your lawn sign design on your social media page, and update regularly with your views and especially a countdown to election day. It's free and it works!
• Have a simple platform. People generally only remember three things at a time (unless I am at Wegmans, in which case I can usually only remember two). In 2019 my three were Respect Parents and Taxpayers, Repair the Damaged Relationship with Stakeholder Groups, and Restore Confidence in the Board. Ideally, one item in your platform should be timely. For instance, under Repair the Damaged Relationship with Stakeholder Groups I listed settling the teachers' contract, working cooperatively with the township committee, and hiring a superintendent. Within each of your three planks, you can either state the specifics of how you will solve the problem or simply state what makes you the best candidate on that issue.
• GOTV Until we reach the point where there is near 100% participation in voting, getting your voters to the polls is paramount. These days, that also means utilizing early voting and mail-in ballots. Be sure to have instructions on how to do that on your social media!!!!
• Have principles and don't forget them. Explaining yourself to others is fine, but if you find that you are explaining yourself to yourself - that's a problem. 

Good luck candidates!

Who Do You Trust?

In a letter to the Massachusetts Militia dated 11 October 1798, President John Adams wrote, "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." He was speaking not only of morality but also of the virtues needed for trusted interpersonal relationships - things like courage, prudence, and honesty. 

The issue of trust comes up a lot on the school board. Much is made about the need for school board members to trust each other and the administration, for the administrators to trust each other and the school board members, and for mutual trust between the board, administration, and employees. After serving for more than 15 years as an elected board member, my first inclination would be to tell new board members to trust no one.

Unfortunately, that is wholly impractical. School board members are not hands-on enough - indeed are prohibited from being hands-on - to make decisions on most issues without the input of administrators. A board member needs to know that facts and figures from the business administrator are accurate and that reports from the superintendent truly reflect what is happening in the schools.

In a district like Hillsborough, the five main administrators that board members are in contact with are the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, the business administrator, the assistant business administrator, and the human resources director. I served with quite a few over the years and trusted each of them unless they gave me a reason not to. I can say confidently that there were many who were honorable and trustworthy over the course of their entire tenure at Hillsborough - and sadly there were many who were not. 

An administrator is dishonest primarily by having a hidden agenda revealed to other administrators but not to the board - or at least not to all board members. It's no secret that superintendents are good at getting what they want. Most of the time they are motivated by what they think is best for the district and the students - and aren't going to let a school board stand in their way!

Who do you trust? Can you trust anyone? My advice is to trust yourself first. Have a noble purpose and stick with it. Don't apologize when you have done nothing wrong. Have courage as well as patience. Show by your example that you are not an ignoble dirty trickster. Perhaps others will follow.