Observations and recommendations from last night’s TUSD candidate forum

September 27, 2012

by David Safier

Wednesday night I moderated a forum with seven of the twelve candidates for the TUSD board — in alphabetical order, Don Cotton, Miguel Cuevas, Ralph Ellinwood, Kristel Foster, Cam Juarez, “Betts” Putnam-Hidalgo and Mark Stegeman. I did my best to ask substantive questions without any "gotchas" attached and to give every candidate equal time and opportunity. Now that it's over, I'm putting back on my blogger's cap and stating my opinions about the candidates. The five who weren't present aren't people I would consider supporting, so these seven candidates are the ones I needed to see and hear to decide who I think should fill the three slots up for grabs.

In my opinion, two candidates definitely deserve your vote: Cam Juarez and Kristel Foster.

• Cam Juarez: Cam is a unique individual in the best sense of the term. He combines a Hispanic upbringing in the Yuma farming community, a physical disability, an education which led to a recent Masters Degree in Urban Planning, a Pima County job where he works with the Supervisors and makes financial decisons, a sharp intellect, strong analytical skills and an emotional understanding of what makes people tick. If he were only as good as the other candidates, I think I would support him just because of his ability to be a role model for TUSD students due to his story and his accomplishments. But for my money, he's simply the best candidate running. [Note: Cam is a strong supporter of the Mexican American Studies program, but his opinions are nuanced enough that some of MAS's most ardent supporters are often upset with him. He's staked out a position on the issue that's uniquely his own.]
• Kristel Foster: Kristel is a public school teacher, which is worth a whole lot in my book. Everything I write about education is filtered through my 30 years of classroom experience, which give me a much needed reality check. Kristel will bring that kind of rubber-meets-the-road perspective to the Board that none of the other members share. She will add a much needed dimension to the Board's discussions and decisions. It's also important that I agree with her basic stands on educational issues, which means I trust her to make good decisions based on the situations and the facts at hand.

Among the five remaining, I would like to see the two incumbents, Miguel Cuevas and Mark Stegeman, voted off the Board, and I don't think Don Cotton has the intellectual or personal qualifications to become a good Board member.