BOE - who are people voting for?

[Anonymous]

I am glad to see some specifics coming out about Ms. Montoya's presence at NCC. I am a parent of a child who was directly harmed by her self-promoting and over-reaching behavior as PTA President. I spoke directly with leadership at the school who said "I don't know what she's up to, I don't know what her agenda is but I don't trust her."

I know how she dealt with me. I know how she dealt with my child (and others involved in the incident). I cannot speak to what is in her heart but the most charitable spin I can put on her actions were that they were rash and ill-informed. I saw no evidence of thoughtful deliberation, intelligent review of facts, or effective communication.

I have no confidence that she would make decisions based on the greatest common good. I have no confidence that she will collaborate effectively with others. I have seen evidence of her efforts and energy being spent first and foremost in pursuit of her personal ambition.

I very much hope she does not get elected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am glad to see some specifics coming out about Ms. Montoya's presence at NCC. I am a parent of a child who was directly harmed by her self-promoting and over-reaching behavior as PTA President. I spoke directly with leadership at the school who said "I don't know what she's up to, I don't know what her agenda is but I don't trust her."

I know how she dealt with me. I know how she dealt with my child (and others involved in the incident). I cannot speak to what is in her heart but the most charitable spin I can put on her actions were that they were rash and ill-informed. I saw no evidence of thoughtful deliberation, intelligent review of facts, or effective communication.

I have no confidence that she would make decisions based on the greatest common good. I have no confidence that she will collaborate effectively with others. I have seen evidence of her efforts and energy being spent first and foremost in pursuit of her personal ambition.

I very much hope she does not get elected.

Do you know how many people her opponent, Lynne Harris, has been cold, unpleasant and unkind toward? Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am glad to see some specifics coming out about Ms. Montoya's presence at NCC. I am a parent of a child who was directly harmed by her self-promoting and over-reaching behavior as PTA President. I spoke directly with leadership at the school who said "I don't know what she's up to, I don't know what her agenda is but I don't trust her."

I know how she dealt with me. I know how she dealt with my child (and others involved in the incident). I cannot speak to what is in her heart but the most charitable spin I can put on her actions were that they were rash and ill-informed. I saw no evidence of thoughtful deliberation, intelligent review of facts, or effective communication.

I have no confidence that she would make decisions based on the greatest common good. I have no confidence that she will collaborate effectively with others. I have seen evidence of her efforts and energy being spent first and foremost in pursuit of her personal ambition.

I very much hope she does not get elected.

Do you know how many people her opponent, Lynne Harris, has been cold, unpleasant and unkind toward? Give me a break.

DP. When Lynne Harris was PTA president at my child's school, I always found her to be friendly, well-informed, and exceptionally communicative.

[Anonymous]

They're not running to be your friend guys. Put the personal gripes aside and vote for who you think will best serve the school district.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They're not running to be your friend guys. Put the personal gripes aside and vote for who you think will best serve the school district.

You miss the point about Montoya. Her brief experience as president of the NCC PTA showed she is all about promoting herself. Montoya effectively bailed on that job a few months in, to run for the BOE. No one at the school wanted to work with her and several key organizational positions sat empty during her time as the PTA president.

When you sit on a governmental board, you have to know how to get along with others. If you have taken the time to understand the system you are leading (which Montoya has not done), you have an informed approach to persuading others on the board to understand your point of view.

Montoya is totally unprepared to be on the board, and her disposition shows she is unlikely to have success if she is elected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're not running to be your friend guys. Put the personal gripes aside and vote for who you think will best serve the school district.

You miss the point about Montoya. Her brief experience as president of the NCC PTA showed she is all about promoting herself. Montoya effectively bailed on that job a few months in, to run for the BOE. No one at the school wanted to work with her and several key organizational positions sat empty during her time as the PTA president.

When you sit on a governmental board, you have to know how to get along with others. If you have taken the time to understand the system you are leading (which Montoya has not done), you have an informed approach to persuading others on the board to understand your point of view.

Montoya is totally unprepared to be on the board, and her disposition shows she is unlikely to have success if she is elected.

Apple ballot begs to differ. She's one of their top picks. I trust the Apple ballot more than some internet rando.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am glad to see some specifics coming out about Ms. Montoya's presence at NCC. I am a parent of a child who was directly harmed by her self-promoting and over-reaching behavior as PTA President. I spoke directly with leadership at the school who said "I don't know what she's up to, I don't know what her agenda is but I don't trust her."

I know how she dealt with me. I know how she dealt with my child (and others involved in the incident). I cannot speak to what is in her heart but the most charitable spin I can put on her actions were that they were rash and ill-informed. I saw no evidence of thoughtful deliberation, intelligent review of facts, or effective communication.

I have no confidence that she would make decisions based on the greatest common good. I have no confidence that she will collaborate effectively with others. I have seen evidence of her efforts and energy being spent first and foremost in pursuit of her personal ambition.

I very much hope she does not get elected.

Do you know how many people her opponent, Lynne Harris, has been cold, unpleasant and unkind toward? Give me a break.

DP. When Lynne Harris was PTA president at my child's school, I always found her to be friendly, well-informed, and exceptionally communicative.

That's fine. And my experience with her as a board member has been that she's combative, egotistical and cold. And some of these moments have been memorialized on camera, such as her berating the Muslim community or sarcastically mocking anyone who criticizes MCPS's failures as being unreasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're not running to be your friend guys. Put the personal gripes aside and vote for who you think will best serve the school district.

You miss the point about Montoya. Her brief experience as president of the NCC PTA showed she is all about promoting herself. Montoya effectively bailed on that job a few months in, to run for the BOE. No one at the school wanted to work with her and several key organizational positions sat empty during her time as the PTA president.

When you sit on a governmental board, you have to know how to get along with others. If you have taken the time to understand the system you are leading (which Montoya has not done), you have an informed approach to persuading others on the board to understand your point of view.

Montoya is totally unprepared to be on the board, and her disposition shows she is unlikely to have success if she is elected.

I disagree. Prioritizing "getting along with others" is how we ended up with a BOE that rubberstamps MCPS leadership's poor decisions, fails to scrutinize principal appointments and contracts, and generally prioritizes being "nice" over being effective. Frankly, we need more people on the BOE who are willing to ruffle feathers.

I actually LIKE that about Montoya. That's a plus not a minus in my book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're not running to be your friend guys. Put the personal gripes aside and vote for who you think will best serve the school district.

You miss the point about Montoya. Her brief experience as president of the NCC PTA showed she is all about promoting herself. Montoya effectively bailed on that job a few months in, to run for the BOE. No one at the school wanted to work with her and several key organizational positions sat empty during her time as the PTA president.

When you sit on a governmental board, you have to know how to get along with others. If you have taken the time to understand the system you are leading (which Montoya has not done), you have an informed approach to persuading others on the board to understand your point of view.

Montoya is totally unprepared to be on the board, and her disposition shows she is unlikely to have success if she is elected.

I disagree. Prioritizing "getting along with others" is how we ended up with a BOE that rubberstamps MCPS leadership's poor decisions, fails to scrutinize principal appointments and contracts, and generally prioritizes being "nice" over being effective. Frankly, we need more people on the BOE who are willing to ruffle feathers.

I actually LIKE that about Montoya. That's a plus not a minus in my book.

NP. The challenge is that being an effective board member requires subject matter expertise. I agree with you that the current board (including Harris) has been overly conciliatory and far too afraid to challenge the Central Office, but challenging the CO requires folks to actually understand what they are talking about in order to ask smart questions, and to understand when they are not getting responsive answers.

Being combative for the sake of being combative, or being combative for the cameras and next political steps, is equally bad or worse than the status quo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am glad to see some specifics coming out about Ms. Montoya's presence at NCC. I am a parent of a child who was directly harmed by her self-promoting and over-reaching behavior as PTA President. I spoke directly with leadership at the school who said "I don't know what she's up to, I don't know what her agenda is but I don't trust her."

I know how she dealt with me. I know how she dealt with my child (and others involved in the incident). I cannot speak to what is in her heart but the most charitable spin I can put on her actions were that they were rash and ill-informed. I saw no evidence of thoughtful deliberation, intelligent review of facts, or effective communication.

I have no confidence that she would make decisions based on the greatest common good. I have no confidence that she will collaborate effectively with others. I have seen evidence of her efforts and energy being spent first and foremost in pursuit of her personal ambition.

I very much hope she does not get elected.

Do you know how many people her opponent, Lynne Harris, has been cold, unpleasant and unkind toward? Give me a break.

DP. When Lynne Harris was PTA president at my child's school, I always found her to be friendly, well-informed, and exceptionally communicative.

That's fine. And my experience with her as a board member has been that she's combative, egotistical and cold. And some of these moments have been memorialized on camera, such as her berating the Muslim community or sarcastically mocking anyone who criticizes MCPS's failures as being unreasonable.

I strongly disagree. If you watch the meetings, Harris is one of the warmer and more welcoming members. She regularly gives positive shout-outs to students, staff, or community members present in the room, or who she's recently met with. And I find her questioning of MCPS staff to be far more detailed than that of other board members. She's not perfect of course, but I found her performance during her first term to have exceeded my expectations and will be voting for her once again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're not running to be your friend guys. Put the personal gripes aside and vote for who you think will best serve the school district.

You miss the point about Montoya. Her brief experience as president of the NCC PTA showed she is all about promoting herself. Montoya effectively bailed on that job a few months in, to run for the BOE. No one at the school wanted to work with her and several key organizational positions sat empty during her time as the PTA president.

When you sit on a governmental board, you have to know how to get along with others. If you have taken the time to understand the system you are leading (which Montoya has not done), you have an informed approach to persuading others on the board to understand your point of view.

Montoya is totally unprepared to be on the board, and her disposition shows she is unlikely to have success if she is elected.

Apple ballot begs to differ. She's one of their top picks. I trust the Apple ballot more than some internet rando.

Montoya hit the lotto to get the MCEA endorsement. There are those in MCEA leadership that regret this endorsement now that they have gotten to know Montoya, and her limitations, better. MCEA does not always choose the best people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're not running to be your friend guys. Put the personal gripes aside and vote for who you think will best serve the school district.

You miss the point about Montoya. Her brief experience as president of the NCC PTA showed she is all about promoting herself. Montoya effectively bailed on that job a few months in, to run for the BOE. No one at the school wanted to work with her and several key organizational positions sat empty during her time as the PTA president.

When you sit on a governmental board, you have to know how to get along with others. If you have taken the time to understand the system you are leading (which Montoya has not done), you have an informed approach to persuading others on the board to understand your point of view.

Montoya is totally unprepared to be on the board, and her disposition shows she is unlikely to have success if she is elected.

Apple ballot begs to differ. She's one of their top picks. I trust the Apple ballot more than some internet rando.

Montoya hit the lotto to get the MCEA endorsement. There are those in MCEA leadership that regret this endorsement now that they have gotten to know Montoya, and her limitations, better. MCEA does not always choose the best people.

If people in MCEA leadership regret their endorsement it says a few things:

1. MCEA sucks at vetting candidates they endorse and therefore, their endorsements shouldn't carry as much weight as they do.

2. If they regret their endorsement and aren't saying so publically, but instead doing so behind closed doors so you can come on anonymous forums and claim so, then they are cowards and poor leaders.

Either way, this reflects more poorly on MCEA leadership than it does on Montoya.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am glad to see some specifics coming out about Ms. Montoya's presence at NCC. I am a parent of a child who was directly harmed by her self-promoting and over-reaching behavior as PTA President. I spoke directly with leadership at the school who said "I don't know what she's up to, I don't know what her agenda is but I don't trust her."

I know how she dealt with me. I know how she dealt with my child (and others involved in the incident). I cannot speak to what is in her heart but the most charitable spin I can put on her actions were that they were rash and ill-informed. I saw no evidence of thoughtful deliberation, intelligent review of facts, or effective communication.

I have no confidence that she would make decisions based on the greatest common good. I have no confidence that she will collaborate effectively with others. I have seen evidence of her efforts and energy being spent first and foremost in pursuit of her personal ambition.

I very much hope she does not get elected.

Do you know how many people her opponent, Lynne Harris, has been cold, unpleasant and unkind toward? Give me a break.

DP. When Lynne Harris was PTA president at my child's school, I always found her to be friendly, well-informed, and exceptionally communicative.

That's fine. And my experience with her as a board member has been that she's combative, egotistical and cold. And some of these moments have been memorialized on camera, such as her berating the Muslim community or sarcastically mocking anyone who criticizes MCPS's failures as being unreasonable.

Harris is combative with those with conservative social views, especially as it relates to LGBTQ issues. Not so much with others.

Same with backing up MCPS with a mocking tone -- largely in this one area. She's got pointed questions for MCPS, itself, in many other areas, but, like many on the BOE in recent memory, rarely follows that up to pin them down on an issue during meetings.

Part of that is because the majority of the current board had been much more in camp with the administration. It's not easy pushing through on things like open data when you aren't in the majority.

I wish she would be more strident about those things, in any case. Maybe turnover of the other two seats would helpif she retains the seat. We know one will, since the incumbent lost in the primary, but I don't know if Smondrowski represented as much of that rubber-stamp problem as others whose seats aren't up this cycle, and I don't know if Zimmerman would be better or worse, there. (Diaz would fight, but I don't think productively, and the rest that comes with her is not to my liking.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am glad to see some specifics coming out about Ms. Montoya's presence at NCC. I am a parent of a child who was directly harmed by her self-promoting and over-reaching behavior as PTA President. I spoke directly with leadership at the school who said "I don't know what she's up to, I don't know what her agenda is but I don't trust her."

I know how she dealt with me. I know how she dealt with my child (and others involved in the incident). I cannot speak to what is in her heart but the most charitable spin I can put on her actions were that they were rash and ill-informed. I saw no evidence of thoughtful deliberation, intelligent review of facts, or effective communication.

I have no confidence that she would make decisions based on the greatest common good. I have no confidence that she will collaborate effectively with others. I have seen evidence of her efforts and energy being spent first and foremost in pursuit of her personal ambition.

I very much hope she does not get elected.

I love how this person does not go into specifics about how their "kid" was supposedly harmed, or what the kid did. Care to elaborate or is someone using you as a pawn in their game of chess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're not running to be your friend guys. Put the personal gripes aside and vote for who you think will best serve the school district.

You miss the point about Montoya. Her brief experience as president of the NCC PTA showed she is all about promoting herself. Montoya effectively bailed on that job a few months in, to run for the BOE. No one at the school wanted to work with her and several key organizational positions sat empty during her time as the PTA president.

When you sit on a governmental board, you have to know how to get along with others. If you have taken the time to understand the system you are leading (which Montoya has not done), you have an informed approach to persuading others on the board to understand your point of view.

Montoya is totally unprepared to be on the board, and her disposition shows she is unlikely to have success if she is elected.

I disagree. Prioritizing "getting along with others" is how we ended up with a BOE that rubberstamps MCPS leadership's poor decisions, fails to scrutinize principal appointments and contracts, and generally prioritizes being "nice" over being effective. Frankly, we need more people on the BOE who are willing to ruffle feathers.

I actually LIKE that about Montoya. That's a plus not a minus in my book.

Wouldn't it be better if Montoya had some idea of what the job entails? Never managed a budget, but you want to put her in charge of a $3.3 billion budget. I suspect you will be complaining about her quickly if she wins.