Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Every now and then I click into the discussion pages of this web site just to see what issues are currently hot in the community. Until now I have not been tempted to respond to any posting or to initiate any discussion of my own. Those who know me and/or those who ask me, are aware of my opinions on these and many other issues. Although I have a very strong sense of civic responsibility, I am not the type to ''go public'' very often. However, I saw something in a recent posting that troubled me enough to prompt me to write. This posting suggested that my husband's (Bill Powers)school board candidacy was somehow directly connected to the positions of Gail Oakes and Bruce Rigelman. I need to clarify that Bill is most definitely his own person, with his own opinions, and his own ideas as to how this district can become even better. That fact should be evident to anyone who has listened to him speak at any of the local political functions, met him out on the ''campaign trail,'' or read his comments in the local papers. Yes, he has agreed with Mrs. Oakes and Mr. Rigelman on a number of issues, but then again, he has also disagreed with both. Bill and Mr. Rigelman became acquainted over a disagreement but were able to put any differences of opinion aside and are able to maintain a friendly relationship despite their differences. Let's face it, we don't have to always agree with someone to like or respect him/her. I can only imagine how boring my life would be if I agreed with everything my husband, children, parents, siblings, or friends said!

I am not going to get into Bill's positions on any issues; that's his domain, and I will leave it to him to present them. I will say that I honestly believe the board would be better with him on it. His financial knowledge is only the tip of what he can bring to the board. He is intelligent, educated, knowledgeable, experienced, and excellent at being able to pinpoint the source of a problem and come up with a plausible solution without losing sight of the big picture. The simple fact that we lived (for 9 years at the height of its growth)in a community/school district that experienced rapid growth should count for something. Being able to understand how another district did it, not only right but exceptionally well, should go a long way in helping PLSD develop its own ideas and plans for growing with the community, and Bill has the knowledge and experience to initiate those ideas. Besides, a little creative thinking and innovation would defintely be a welcome change!

Remember, Bill is the only candidate endorsed by both the Pickerington Education Association and the Pickerington Times-Sun. both groups conducted in-depth interviews with the candidates and appeared to take their charge seriously. They must have seen what I, and Bill's many other supporters have known for a long time. He has what is needed, will not ''take sides'', and cannot be intimidated.

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A Clarification, Part II

As for the other candidates, neither Bill nor I will make any negative comments about any of them. They each believe in what they are doing and wouldn't be running if they didn't think they could offer something positive to the school district and the community. We both agree that personal attacks and negativity are unnecessary, and we won't say anything about anyone else that we wouldn't say to his/her face. And we would never intentionally undermine another person's campaign or personal life in pursuit of local office. The politics of personal destruction never did much for me anyway. I always figured that the one yelling the loudest must be the one most guilty. Fortunately, so far, this election campaign has been a clean one based primarily on issues, and I respect each of the candidates for campaigning in such a professional and respectful manner.

I want you to vote for my husband. He is a quality candidate who can make a difference if elected. But you need to decide what is important to you. Don't believe everything you read or hear. If you have a question or a concern, call the candidate and ask him/her. You can judge the validity of his/her statements based on your own intuition and beliefs and then decide for yourself. The most important thing though is for you to get out there on November 6th and VOTE!! Vote your issue. Vote your conscience. Vote your personal belief system. Vote for what YOU want this community to be. Just be certaint o go to the polls and be heard.

Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts.

Jan Powers

Thanks, Jan

Jan,

Thank you for your clarification and the manner in which you posted your opinion on this website. You and your husband are first-class citizens. I?’m delighted to see your encouragement of a respectful and professional manner in discussing issues important to our schools.

I hope your husband's candidacy is not directly connected to the Gail Oakes and Bruce Rigelman. You can, however, understand the wide-spread perception in the community. Powers yard signs are together with Oakes throughout the district. And, your husband has gone door-to-door campaigning with Bruce Rigelman; and hasn?’t with Larry Sigman and Debbie Carlier. I suggest that your husband call both Larry and Debbie; and maybe sit down and get some of their valuable advice and insight.

In terms of the issues, as you can tell by my postings here, I?’m most interested in candidates that will help bring more money into our schools. We spend too little per student in this rather affluent community. We should be ashamed of our cost per pupil comparison with other schools. Our class sizes are extremely large. We must pay our teachers more and hire more counselors for our students. We will have a crisis in the next few years when our very best teachers retire and this community is unwilling to give more to our schools so we pay our teachers competitively.

I wish your husband the very best, and feel it will be a very close election. And, again, thank you,Jan, for the respectful and professional manner in which you posted your remarks.

An answer to your questions

Mr. Uher,
Thanks for your response to my posting. I am currently too busy to get involved in a prolonged discussion at this time. However, in order to further clarify, I will, this one last time, address some of the questions you raised in your response.

Bill and Bruce Rigelman are friends. That doesn't mean they see eye to eye on everything, it simply means that they like each other's company. Bruce graciously volunteered to help Bill get moving on his campaign. Being a rookie in politics, even local politics, requires a lot of research and advice, and Bill was not about to turn down an offer of help from an experienced campaigner. If you want to know where Bill stands on particular issues, ask him. If you want to know about his friendship with Bruce, as him about that, too. Others have, and he has responded to them honestly and openly.

As for the signs. When I drive through Pickerington, I see signs for all the candidates in all the races, mostly grouped together at intersections and entrances to neighborhoods. The individuals who have Bill's signs in their yards volunteered to post them on their property. Many of those people are friends who wanted to help, some were volunteers who took a number of signs to pass out to their friends and neighbors, others are people who called and specifically asked for a sign or two. When we receive a phone message that says, ''My name is >>> and I received your literature and like what it says. I live at >>> and would be happy to post one of your signs in my yard'' we don't ask who else they support, we simply thank them and arrange for a drop-off.

As for positions, I'm not going to speak for Bill. He is perfectly capable of doing that for himself. I will tell you that he wants only good things for the school district and is available to discuss any issue you wish to talk about. This should be evident by the fact that he is the only candidate earning the endorsement of the only two local groups issuing endorsements, The Pickerington Education Association and the Pickerington Times-Sun. He is also receiving support from a number of other local groups and individuals that do not offer official endorsements.

Finally, Bill has spoken with the other candidates. After the first Chamber get-together Bill told me that he enjoyed talking with Mrs. Sanders, and that the other candidates who he hadn't known before,commenting that they all seemed to be good people. He is open to meetings and discussions with any and all candidates, members of the board, administration, faculty, and community. It is, however, difficult to talk to someone who isn't open to honest dialogue because of a pre-conceived notion being held.

Well, Mr. Uher, I hope I answered your questions. If not, I tried. Please feel free to contact Bill with any other concerns you might have or questions you want answered. Our phone number is in the book and on his literature. Thanks again for your response and good luck to you and your candidates.

Jan Powers

By Jan Powers