I wouldn't elect two unqualified individuals (Zafari and Hurst) who have no reason to run other than to try and protect their neighborhoods. Elected officials must serve the entire district, not just their own neighborhood.

I have talked with current and former council and school board members. All say that when acting as a council member or school board member, they must act for the entire city/district and not one neighborhood.

I have met Mr. Hurst multiple times, he is a very nice guy, but only has one reason for running. To stop the bus barn.

I've tried to communicate with Ms.Zafari and she doesn't seem able to answer any basic questions other than it's her time.

I've watched Mr. Shepard at the school meetings and he does a great job of understanding the issues and makes decisions that benefit the community at large while always thinking of our students.

I've reviewed Mr. Clemencich's history of service and have talked with people who have worked with him. He is fair and makes decisions based on the information available and not on emotion.

Both men (Clemencich and Shepard) have earned our vote and should be elected.

• traveler Said:

At the same time I do notice that Mr. Hurst seems less experienced for running, based on his answers. But then President Obama wasn't that experienced when he ran in the last election and many voted for him because of his passion to make things better.

On a separate but related note, the Allen American had 3 AISD candidate related stories in their paper yesterday and they are all up on the website now. There was an article for Zafari (which clarified several things for me), one for campaign finance reporting, and one for a Political Action Committee or PAC that is now in Allen. I think it is funny that Carl has only spent $34. I wonder what that was at such a low amount. Also, where are all the signs that the candidates are spending money on? Given my travel to the West side is usually limited to Watter’s Creek, the Lowes/Home Depot area of McDermott, and Wal-Mart… I have not noticed any and have not seen any along Bethany or Main. Of course signs will not change my opinion I have I was just wondering where they all are.

Place 2 candidate Carl Clemencich takes the lead in spending with $2,268, most of which was used to finance $1,299 in yard signs. A total of $693 has been used for the printing of postcards, and a total of $178 has been used for inkjet cartridges and paper. Clemencich, who has said he is self-financing his campaign, has not taken any contributions so far in this election cycle.

Clemencich's opponent, Alan Hurst, has raised $40 and spent $34, though his report does not detail how the funds were spent.

I read that in the paper (Allen American) this morning. I have not tried to look at their voting records but it would be interesting to see who is actually voting on a regular basis since they are asking for our vote. I think the questions were fair the paper asked each candidate and at least this time all 4 answered all the questions. You can still see how some were answered more thoroughly than others though. One thing that I picked up on was Zafari's comments on Elementary 17. She was quoted by the Allen American in the April 19th article stating "The maintenance facility that we have [planned], is that really necessary?" she said. "Do we have to build that? Do we have to build the new school? Or can we manage for a few more years so we don't have to incur more debt and increase our taxes?"

In her candidate profile this morning she is quoted as saying "I would set the new elementary school as a higher priority." To ensure it is in context that was part of her response to a question about the service center.
To me, her placing any priority on the school shows me that she acknowledges that it is needed. If she didn’t think that she would have most likely stuck with her April 19th statement. I don’t see how Elementary 17 is even a talking point for her, especially since Kitty Hawk was just sold to a developer that will build about 229 homes on the site. That is potentially a lot of new kids.

On a side note, if you are running for school board I would hope you would attend the meetings to see how things work. On Monday I noticed Susan, Carl, Jason (of course), and Alan at the meeting. I would say that maybe I missed Rona but since there were only about 6 of us in the seats after the open forum finished and the service center discussion… I don’t see how.

Well if elections are solely based on experience, service and qualifications, John McCain would be the President now. My first post was just my sarcastic comment about the 2008 general election.

Back to the AISD election. I will take my time to read each candidates' answers and see what they want to do. For example, even if both candidates say they want to balance the district spending, how do they do it? Those are the things I look for. But then that's just my way of picking a candidate. And based on the fact that you've talked to Mr. Clemencich and you're more satisfied with what he's told you and his experience, that's a fine choice too. People just have different ways of picking their choice of candidates.

• traveler Said:

This question is completely backwards. The question one should rightly ask of someone running for an at-large position is "How far would you go to take care of the best interests of the entire district?"

As someone who has some experience in the matter, I can tell you that the Board will always look for the win-win but sometimes not everyone gets to be happy. In that case, the Board does what makes the most sense in the big picture and trustees who are sworn to uphold the law and put the interests of the district first better be willing to vote against their own property values - or even their own children.

• javaprincess Said:

Probably the best comment on this thread yet. VRS has always taken the approach that experience and service is the standard to be elgible.

VRS, get off your high horse. You were President in the easiest time in the history of our school district; we had nothing to go but up coming off one of the most troubling leadership style ever. And since, it appears all must kiss your ring to get the blessings to serve.

You throw in much analysis and data that seemingly puts you high on the intellectual pedestal, makes us all with opinions inferior, and all the while you missed opportunities to make a stand against Austin and do more than you could have. Oh, but we do have a nice 60 million dollar stadium. Thanks

I read on another forum that the ISD taxes we pay are the highest legally allowable in Texas, however the current board has set a goal of getting the law changed in order to be able to raise them further. Is this truly the case, please tell me that person was incorrect.