Why I Will Vote for Michalsky and Griffin

I've had people say to me, "OK, Chris, I get who you are AGAINST, but who will you vote for?"  This is an updated post from several days ago:

Bryan Michalsky is my choice for Position 6.  He is chief financial officer for a local company, and has five children ranging in grades pre-K through 12.  He has children at both Seven Lakes and Katy High Schools.  The board needs someone with a strong financial background, and Mr. Michalsky's business experience will serve the board well on many of the decisions coming up.  

In Position 7, I will vote for Charles Griffin.   Mr. Griffin is a retired Lt. Colonel and airline pilot with strong Katy roots, having graduated from Katy High School and the Air Force Academy.  He has four children, and his wife was a cafeteria monitor who was let go when those positions were eliminated last year.  His uncle is Michael Griffin, after whom Griffin Elementary is named.  He brings a depth of knowledge about our heritage, and is anxious to work hard to improve the reputation of the district, and he is keenly interested in improving the communications from the district. 

Like most Katy voters, Mr. Griffin and Mr. Michalsky were not paying attention to school board elections before last year.  They are working hard to catch up fast.  They have met and are meeting with administrators, teachers, community leaders, former school board members such as myself, and the current board members, including Proctor and Huckaby, in order to ask opinions on issues the district is facing.  They will bring a diversity to the board that is envisioned in the State Law that requires seven board members elected from the community to oversee the professional educators who will actually run the district.  We don't need five superintendents; we need one superintendent properly tasked and evaluated by seven school board members who bring to the board expertise in a wide variety of areas such as business and financial acumen, community relations, technology, human resources, law, government relations, etc.

I have tremendous respect for Neal Howard and would be happy if  he won, too. However, given the anti-incumbent fervor I still see in our community, I believe it will be impossible for an incumbent to be re-elected this year.  I also respect Betty Powell for being part of the electoral process.  However, remember: in our school board elections, THERE ARE NO RUN-OFFS.  Whichever candidate gets the most votes will win, even if it's only 26% of the vote in a four-person race.  I am very concerned Cynthia Blackman will win if the vote splits, just like Huckaby won last year with only 35% of the vote.  Please vote, talk about the election, and encourage your friends and neighbors to vote. 

Early voting is Monday and Tuesday this week only;  7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m at:

KISD Education Support Complex,

Wolfe Elementary,

Cinco Ranch High School, and

Taylor High School. 

You can vote at any of those locations during Early Voting.  On Election Day (Saturday, May 12), you will need to vote at your polling place.

More information on voting is here.