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> Michael Gresham for MCAS School Board At Large
Southsider2k12
post Aug 20 2010, 02:59 PM
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I am proud to announce my second run for the Michigan City Area Schools Board of Trustees. I ran for the same seat in 2006, and won 29% of the vote in a four person race.

Besides the work I do at citybythelake.org (which I established in 2006), I have been very involved in many things around town. I currently serve as the President of the Michigan City Indiana Community Scholarship Foundation and on the Michigan City Planning Commission. I also am the play by play voice of Michigan City Wolves Football and Basketball on WIMS radio AM 1420, along with hosting a Sunday night radio show from 5 to 6 pm, and co-hosting the Tuesday afternoon show from 3 to 6pm. I was also a long time volunteer at the YMCA, not only as a referee in the kids soccer and basketball programs, but as a committee and board member.

I feel optimistic about the latest turns in our school system with our new Superintendent, but that doesn't mean that now is the time for complacency. There are many large challenges that await us, including more looming budget problems with the state of Indiana. I feel that I can be a part of the solutions to improving our kids futures. As the election approaches, I will formulate many more detailed postions on specific issues, and will always be open to any questions or comments. I can be reached either through the website, or at home 219-879-3633.

Thank you.
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C Hinchman
post Aug 20 2010, 04:56 PM
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Hi Mike


You now need to put a committee together to help you win the school board seat. It's very difficult to do everything by yourself. We need change on that board, but you will be surprised by how many votes the current members get. They still have name reconition.
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Southsider2k12
post Aug 28 2010, 08:55 AM
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I also have set up an email address to have people be able to contact me directly... Contact mikeATcitybythelake.org. Just replace the AT with an @.
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Southsider2k12
post Sep 12 2010, 09:20 AM
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It is looking like the first live chance to question the candidates will come at the MC Public Library on Monday Sept 20th at 6:30pm. The forum is being put on by Delta Kappa Gamma. I hope to see everyone there!
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Southsider2k12
post Sep 17 2010, 09:35 AM
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My campaigns response to the stories over the last couple of days relating to the revenue situation at the MCAS currently.

QUOTE
The most important topic in the 2010 school board election is the return to fiscal sanity. The Michael Harding era has been a disaster that will literally affect the futures of our children as they wind their way through the MCAS in the coming decades. The school system has put itself in a situation where there are massive amounts of debt that are going to factor into every single dollar-based decision that we have to make. Just as responsible of a party to this situation are all of the school board members of the last three terms who have been the “yes” votes to move Harding’s spending spree forward.

Michael Harding took over the MCAS in the spring of 2004. For comparisons sake I went out pulled out all of the annual reports from 2003 until this year. For the calendar year of 2003 the school system ended with $37.1 million in total debt according to their public disclosures. As of the last annual report which covered 2009, the school system held $110.8 million in total debt. The figures peaked as high as $114.3 million in the 2008 calendar year.

As a result of those debt totals the amount of the MCAS’s budget has seen the amount of debt service paid annually go from $2 million in 2003 to an overwhelming $10.9 million in 2009. The increase in total debt spending was essentially a straight line as 2004 saw $4.9 million, $6.4 million in 2005 and 2006, $7.1 million in 2007, and $8.1 million in 2008.

Those weren’t the only areas that saw massive increases… The average certified administrator’s salary when from $73,070 in 2003 to $89,008 in 2008. That was an increase of almost 22%. That means during 2008 where the MCAS peaked with a record high 34 administrators, at a record high average salary, we saw over $3 million dollars in salaries that went nowhere near a classroom. This was during almost the exact same period of time that the teachers worked under the same contract, with their wages frozen for the last two years of time before a deal was finally agreed to.

The problem that these trends really didn’t get recognized for the educational disasters they could cause, until they did. When the economy turned south in the fall of 2008, and the realities started to show up in Michigan City in 2009, the debt loads proved to be a major hurt to our children’s quality of education. Instead of being able to have more non-classroom choices to choose from to make cuts in, we were forced to fire teachers and cut essential materials. These choices came about because very simply, you can’t quit paying your mortgage if you still want to live in your house, and a school system is no different. Suddenly we had almost $11 million dollars of our budget that we could not touch to make cuts in. We had to make cuts out of a historically smaller portion of our budget. We had to cut deeper in the classroom. We had to cut things like paper and other school supplies.

The scariest thing is that this nightmare could have been even worse had a private citizen like Charlie Morgan not stepped forward and gotten the approved Career Center put on to referendum that was defeated by a two to one margin by the voters of the MCAS. Today we would have been sitting at over $150 million in total debt, and an extra $3 million dollars a year in debt service payment assuming the school system had taken out a 30 year bond issue at the then prevailing bond rate of about 6%. Yes we would have been set to pay about $14 million in debt payments last year. It would have meant an extra three million dollars in cuts. For perspectives sake it would have taken the firing of every single certified administrator at the MCAS, including all of the way up to the superintendent to make the payment that would have been required to pay for a new career center.

There are a lot of important issues that my campaign will highlight in the next couple of months. Fiduciary duty is at the top of the list because the school system owes its taxpayers and its students more respect that it has shown in recent years. We have got to restore fiscal sanity to the Michigan City Area Schools, and I plan to do just that with your vote on November 2nd 2010.
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Grammy515
post Sep 17 2010, 11:39 AM
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QUOTE(southsiderMMX @ Sep 17 2010, 10:35 AM) *

My campaigns response to the stories over the last couple of days relating to the revenue situation at the MCAS currently.

How do you propose to change any of this? Will you support our new Superintendent? It's great that you can point out all the fiscal failures of the previous administration but what can you do to make the situation better?
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Southsider2k12
post Sep 17 2010, 12:18 PM
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QUOTE(Grammy515 @ Sep 17 2010, 12:39 PM) *

How do you propose to change any of this? Will you support our new Superintendent? It's great that you can point out all the fiscal failures of the previous administration but what can you do to make the situation better?


The very first thing I have done is obvious. I have been a very public and up front member of this community. I have tried to spark public debate and public involvement in our school system. I believe in open lines of communication. I am not going to be someone staring blankly during public comment. I believe the kids and taxpayers of the MCAS deserve better than non-responses. My work on the website, on the radio, and in the school system shows I am serious about that.

Honestly I love what Dr. Eason-Watkins has done so far, barring maybe a couple of details. I have got to meet her and talk to her a few times already, and I think the positive attitude and attention to detail that she has brought into our school system so far is incredible. I am ready to hear her ideas and plans in her State of the MCAS address coming up here soon. Once I hear more of her plans, I will be talking about what I think of them for sure.

That being said, while the old Super might be gone, many school board members who consistently approved his spending requests and put us into this situation are still around. The school board is the one who has final say on the budgets, so in reality, there isn't much to stop this group from making the situation worse than it already is, well except for the election.

I'll be the first to admit this isn't going to be an easy fix, and I am not about to promise that it will be. Step one to fixing this crisis is to make sure you don't make it worse. No more projects that require large bond issues and adding to our debt unless we absolutely 100% have to. We live in a shrinking school population, and in a town that is also seeing an exodus. It is a disservice to the community to keep adding to their financial burdens. Every dollar we pay to debt is a dollar that can't be theoretically used in the classrooms of the MCAS. The classroom has to be our first priority. The second step has to be to pay down that debt, which is only going to happen over a period of time. Move those dollars back into things that result in better classroom environments.

Odds are we are going to see another round of cuts coming from the State of Indiana this year, according to what School Superintendent Tony Bennett told me during a WIMS interview I was involved in on afternoon show few months ago. I really want to be a part of the process of making smart cuts, if indeed it does happen again. When the round of cuts made news last year, I actually advanced a plan on the Citybythelake.org radio show on WIMS based on the MCAS own numbers that only resulted in one teacher layoff. Instead today we have many classrooms that are seeing 35 to 40 kids in them. That isn't fair to the children. Study after study has shown how detrimental that is to individuals education.

There are a lot of big issues that the next school board is going to have to decide. The more information we can get candidates to make public about their stances, the better.
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greatgrand
post Sep 17 2010, 02:07 PM
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Michael, I realize that you are not running against Jim Kintzele, but I would like to point out the following:

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Just as responsible of a party to this situation are all of the school board members of the last three terms who have been the “yes” votes to move Harding’s spending spree forward.

School Board Member Jim Kintzele was not a "yes" vote to Harding.

Quote
This was during almost the exact same period of time that the teachers worked under the same contract, with their wages frozen for the last two years of time before a deal was finally agreed to.

The contract was not settled until Jim Kintzele was allowed to become involved in negotiations, finally bringing about trust and bargaining in good faith.

Quote
The problem that these trends really didn’t get recognized for the educational disasters they could cause, until they did.

Jim Kintzele did recognize the disaster that the trends could cause long before the realities showed up. For years, he repeatedly warned the board and the administration that the school system was going to end up in financial trouble.
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JHeath
post Sep 18 2010, 01:45 PM
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QUOTE(greatgrand @ Sep 17 2010, 03:07 PM) *

Michael, I realize that you are not running against Jim Kintzele, but I would like to point out the following:

Quote
...
School Board Member Jim Kintzele was not a "yes" vote to Harding.

...
The contract was not settled until Jim Kintzele was allowed to become involved in negotiations, finally bringing about trust and bargaining in good faith.
...

Jim Kintzele did recognize the disaster that the trends could cause long before the realities showed up. For years, he repeatedly warned the board and the administration that the school system was going to end up in financial trouble.


With all due respect, I don't believe he was referring to Kintzele, who has been an outpsoken voice of reason along with another board member, for some time.
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greatgrand
post Sep 18 2010, 02:22 PM
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QUOTE(JHeath @ Sep 18 2010, 02:45 PM) *

With all due respect, I don't believe he was referring to Kintzele, who has been an outpsoken voice of reason along with another board member, for some time.

Thank you. I did not think he was referring to Jim Kintzele either. I posted for clarification.
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Southsider2k12
post Sep 18 2010, 02:39 PM
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QUOTE(greatgrand @ Sep 18 2010, 03:22 PM) *

Thank you. I did not think he was referring to Jim Kintzele either. I posted for clarification.


Yeah, I actually voted for Jim last time around, and can't see myself doing anything but voting for him again.

Also, The News Dispatch has picked up my press release and there is a full write up about it on page A3 written by Alicia Ebaugh. Check it out!
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Southsider2k12
post Sep 18 2010, 04:12 PM
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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...1e830932515.txt

Link to the article in the News Dispatch
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Tom Burns
post Sep 19 2010, 07:58 AM
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QUOTE(southsiderMMX @ Sep 18 2010, 05:12 PM) *

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...1e830932515.txt

Link to the article in the News Dispatch



Excellent.
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Southsider2k12
post Sep 27 2010, 08:20 PM
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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...d8434795052.txt

QUOTE
Two MCAS incumbents defend past decisions

Candidates question Lee, Jones
By Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer
Published: Monday, September 27, 2010 5:19 PM CDT
MICHIGAN CITY — Accused by two school-board candidates of supporting poor decisions by former Michigan City Area Schools Superintendent Michael Harding, incumbents Kathryn Lee and Jeff Jones have defended their actions by saying they made the best decisions they could at the time.

“I researched every vote I made,” said Lee, who is seeking a second term as an at-large board member. “On any big issue, I talked to the teachers and students, I made visits. Everything I’ve done was in the best interest of the community.”

In recent news releases, at-large candidates Beth Pishkur and Michael Gresham have attacked their opponent over the issue, as well as at Jones. They are the only two remaining board members who voted to support many of Harding’s projects, like the failed career and technical center that could have cost $39 million, Pishkur said. They also supported Harding’s “poor financial direction,” which escalated the school district’s debt, she said.

Gresham characterized them as “Harding’s yes votes” for adding unnecessary administrators and costs.

Lee said her support of a new career and technical center had more to do with the programs and technology MCAS needs to implement to provide a better education to students.

“Had I known we would be in the financial straits we are in now, I wouldn’t have supported building it,” she said. “But I still feel if we had the money, we need a better facility and better equipment to provide students with the training they need to join the workforce, especially the ones who won’t go on to college.”

The AK Smith Center provides several good programs such as cosmetology, culinary arts and welding, Lee said, but she feels the programs could potentially be improved with a better building and more modern equipment.

“If you’re talking about working with local businesses to provide internships, you have to have the education to go with it,” Lee said. “There’s only so much you can do in an antiquated car shop.”

As for voting for Harding’s administrative hires, Lee said her job was to support his role as lead administrator of the district.

“When you hire a superintendent, you hope they know what they are doing. We hire them to do their job, so if they say they need someone to get the job done right, you have to trust them,” she said. “But in times like this, if you don’t have the funds, you don’t have them.”

Jones said although he is not running against either Pishkur or Gresham, he has taken seriously his responsibility to make the best decisions he could based on the information provided to the board at any given time.

Additionally, Pishkur and Jones both addressed their concerns with Gresham’s analysis of the school district’s budget situation shared in a Sept. 18 News-Dispatch article. In the analysis, Gresham claimed it would have taken the firing of every single certified administrator at MCAS, including all of the way up to the superintendent, to make the payment that would have been required to finance a new career center.

“I think all of us have concerns as it relates to school funding, costs and quality of education. However, to position oneself as an expert having completed extensive research on school finances and then incorrectly assess past budgets and spending is a bit problematic,” Pishkur said in a news release.

Debt service and capital projects budgets are funded through property taxes, and are separate from the general fund, which is funded through the state based on student enrollment, she said. Administrator and teacher salaries are mostly paid from the general fund, except in a few cases allowed by the state legislature, Jones said.

“(Capital projects and debt service) funds cannot be used for operations. To suggest otherwise is inaccurate and misleading to voters,” Pishkur said.

Gresham said he understands the difference between the funds — he was simply trying to make a point.

“We are asking taxpayers to fund more debt in a time with fewer students and a falling population. For every dollar of debt, there are fewer people here to pay it. The school board has a responsibility to everyone in the school system, including taxpayers,” he said. “I rolled up my sleeves and took the time to do the research and presented the stakeholders in our school system with the facts. Pishkur waited for someone to do the legwork, and then tried to turn it into something that wasn’t actually there.”

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Southsider2k12
post Sep 27 2010, 08:58 PM
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Its also a good time to announce that the campaign is set up to accept donations on-line. Log into your paypal account and you can support the school board run by sending your donation to mike@citybythelake.org. If you have any questions or problems, please email me at the same address!
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Southsider2k12
post Oct 8 2010, 08:01 AM
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This morning my campaign received the honor of being recommended by the Michigan City Education Association for the Michigan City Area School Board, At Large seat. It is an honor to be picked as one of the preferred candidates by the teachers. Many of the teachers making this endorsement are the same teachers that formed me into the person that I am today through my time in the Michigan City Area School system. I am living proof of the quality education that a kid can receive here. I am proud to accept the teachers endorsement for the second time in two campaigns of mine (also 2006). I believe their actions recognize my commitment to fight for all of the stakeholders in our school system for the betterment of all citizens of Michigan City.
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Southsider2k12
post Oct 13 2010, 01:27 PM
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The campaign's radio commercial is done! Tune into WIMS AM 1420 starting next week to hear it during the transition from the morning show to the John Landecker show.
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Southsider2k12
post Oct 15 2010, 08:11 AM
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"With the story that the Michigan City Education Association had been told that there was a possibility that the MCAS would not be able to afford to pay our teachers in January, I saw the shock and fear on teachers faces. Even though Dr. Eason-Watkins came out later and said under no qualified terms that this would not happen, the damage had already been done. For those wondering exactly how bad things are in our school system, you now have your answer. Have no doubt that property taxes will be the first excuse offered up to explain these problems, but the issues run deeper than that. It has been years of bad decision-making in the school boards final votes that is at the root of our problems. We as a school system cannot continue to accept these sort of unprecidented problems. We must change the way that we do business. We have to start watching every dollar in our school system with the respect that our tax dollars deserve."

My press release on yesterdays news.
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Southsider2k12
post Oct 18 2010, 12:26 PM
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The final fund raising push is underway. If you would like to help, just like other people have, send your donation to mike@citybythelake.org through paypal, or contact me about either mailing or picking up your donation. You can help the campaign pay for signs, radio air time, and mailings to voters. No donation is t...oo small. It only takes a few dollars to run a 30 second ad on WIMS. Thanks to all!
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Southsider2k12
post Oct 19 2010, 02:21 PM
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The first 15 minute campaign talk is recorded. It will be aired from 2:45 to 3:00pm on WIMS on Friday the 22nd. If you aren't going to be in front of a radio, the message can be streamed on-line during that same time on www.wimsradio.com. In the message I talk about what I see the role of a school board member as, why a vibrant MCAS is important, and what qualifies me to be on the school board.
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