How Come BOE Candidate Stephen Austin Won’t Say What His Employment Is??

[Anonymous]

BOE elections are nonpartisan. Though of course candidates are free to have partisan opinions/supporters. And voters are free to vote or not vote for candidates for partisan reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am independent. I thought BOE is nonpartisan so candidate’s party affiliation is irrelevant. Is it still true in MC?

Yes, it's nonpartisan. (This is why federal employees are allowed to run for school board.) So a candidate's party affiliation is irrelevant to the candidacy. A voter might nonetheless find it relevant, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would encourage everyone voting to go to Mr. Austin's webpage.

See how he is reacting to opponents, his experience in BOE affairs and his supporters.

Summary?

I went to his webpage. I can not find any experience in the area of education and or anything that pertains to the job at hand. Doesn't mean he's not qualified, but does give me pause. Looks like he's financial planner of some sort.

Job, it says he's started at non profit, and it looks like that hasn't been around long. It's called Montgomery County Neighbors for local schools.

His social media, ie twitter and FB are harsh, a few posts gave me definite pause about his capability to look at things objectively if someone decides to disagree with him. He definitely went overboard when talking with student advocates. Whether he liked their stance or not doesn't give him a pass to be professional and calm. He seems to pass this behavior off as him defending himself, I'm not clear on that. Easy to see for yourself.

I keep finding this "f Bethesda works in finance and started a Facebook group to organize opposition to the analysis. His slogans are “Neighborhood Schools” and “Great Local Schools For All.” While this might sound harmless, these slogans have a long history of racist ties, as they were used by some white parents to protest school integration in the 1960s. His campaign has other troubling connections: he received $3,000 from an organization founded by Zhenya Li, who fights local pro-immigrant laws, and he’s donated money to an anti-school redistricting lawsuit brought by a lawyer who spent over a decade fighting the inclusion of LGBTQ curriculum in Montgomery County schools. In recent weeks, his campaign has illegally placed hundreds of signs on public roads and at parks and schools."

He claims that is all not true. The above paragraph has been in quite a few periodicals. Again I do not know if it's true, so I am focusing on his demeanor online and it's not pretty.

I am independent. I thought BOE is nonpartisan so candidate’s party affiliation is irrelevant. Is it still true in MC?

Yes, MOCO is nonpartisan. That concerns me with this candidate.

More importantly he hasn't given much in terms of what he brings to the table besides being a dad. Also, his lack of self control at meetings and lack of focus on issues when he goes after opponents kind of concerning.

I think it's fair to ask him what his plan is? What are his goals? What is his previous experience?

I spoke with a neighbor this evening who is a big supporter. She said, she's voting for him because he wants neighborhood schools. No busing. She spoke very highly of him. But she could not answer my questions above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


More importantly he hasn't given much in terms of what he brings to the table besides being a dad. Also, his lack of self control at meetings and lack of focus on issues when he goes after opponents kind of concerning.

I think it's fair to ask him what his plan is? What are his goals? What is his previous experience?

I spoke with a neighbor this evening who is a big supporter. She said, she's voting for him because he wants neighborhood schools. No busing. She spoke very highly of him. But she could not answer my questions above.

Don't go looking for those answers in his private Facebook group. Within that group simply asking for an elaboration of Stephen Austin's experience will be met with a swift reply/accusation from one of his 8 or so hardcore supporters who are monitoring every post, ready to pounce on anyone who dares ask for clarification. Ask too many questions or like the wrong post and they will promptly boot you from the group. I guess they want to maintain the purity of thought on their group.

The result has been Stephen's limited engagement with people outside of his 100 avid supporters on his 8K member group. This plus his responses outside of his group reflect a candidate that is brittle and expecting of constant praise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would encourage everyone voting to go to Mr. Austin's webpage.

See how he is reacting to opponents, his experience in BOE affairs and his supporters.

Summary?

I went to his webpage. I can not find any experience in the area of education and or anything that pertains to the job at hand. Doesn't mean he's not qualified, but does give me pause. Looks like he's financial planner of some sort.

Job, it says he's started at non profit, and it looks like that hasn't been around long. It's called Montgomery County Neighbors for local schools.

His social media, ie twitter and FB are harsh, a few posts gave me definite pause about his capability to look at things objectively if someone decides to disagree with him. He definitely went overboard when talking with student advocates. Whether he liked their stance or not doesn't give him a pass to be professional and calm. He seems to pass this behavior off as him defending himself, I'm not clear on that. Easy to see for yourself.

I keep finding this "f Bethesda works in finance and started a Facebook group to organize opposition to the analysis. His slogans are “Neighborhood Schools” and “Great Local Schools For All.” While this might sound harmless, these slogans have a long history of racist ties, as they were used by some white parents to protest school integration in the 1960s. His campaign has other troubling connections: he received $3,000 from an organization founded by Zhenya Li, who fights local pro-immigrant laws, and he’s donated money to an anti-school redistricting lawsuit brought by a lawyer who spent over a decade fighting the inclusion of LGBTQ curriculum in Montgomery County schools. In recent weeks, his campaign has illegally placed hundreds of signs on public roads and at parks and schools."

He claims that is all not true. The above paragraph has been in quite a few periodicals. Again I do not know if it's true, so I am focusing on his demeanor online and it's not pretty.

I am independent. I thought BOE is nonpartisan so candidate’s party affiliation is irrelevant. Is it still true in MC?

Yes, MOCO is nonpartisan. That concerns me with this candidate.

More importantly he hasn't given much in terms of what he brings to the table besides being a dad. Also, his lack of self control at meetings and lack of focus on issues when he goes after opponents kind of concerning.

I think it's fair to ask him what his plan is? What are his goals? What is his previous experience?

I spoke with a neighbor this evening who is a big supporter. She said, she's voting for him because he wants neighborhood schools. No busing. She spoke very highly of him. But she could not answer my questions above.

You may want to look at some of his detailed financial analysis and the budget ideas of one of his opponents that is fiscally undoable.

MCPS has a $2.8 Billion Dollar Budget that is unaudited. No controls are in place to monitor if a program is actually meeting its goals. The Board renewed Dr. Smith contract with an increase without indicating what specific metric he had met to deserve t he renewal or the increase. If the achievement go is so bad why would you give the person that has bee in charge for 4 years another 4 years?

If any other public company was unaudited like this, there would be serious calls as to why. Instead there are crickets. Don't you want to understand how your money is being spent and are the programs and people all this money is going to is actually working?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You may want to look at some of his detailed financial analysis and the budget ideas of one of his opponents that is fiscally undoable.

MCPS has a $2.8 Billion Dollar Budget that is unaudited. No controls are in place to monitor if a program is actually meeting its goals. The Board renewed Dr. Smith contract with an increase without indicating what specific metric he had met to deserve t he renewal or the increase. If the achievement go is so bad why would you give the person that has bee in charge for 4 years another 4 years?

If any other public company was unaudited like this, there would be serious calls as to why. Instead there are crickets. Don't you want to understand how your money is being spent and are the programs and people all this money is going to is actually working?

Would MCPS benefit from an IG?

Is Steve Austin qualified to be a BoE member?

Two separate questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You may want to look at some of his detailed financial analysis and the budget ideas of one of his opponents that is fiscally undoable.

MCPS has a $2.8 Billion Dollar Budget that is unaudited. No controls are in place to monitor if a program is actually meeting its goals. The Board renewed Dr. Smith contract with an increase without indicating what specific metric he had met to deserve t he renewal or the increase. If the achievement go is so bad why would you give the person that has bee in charge for 4 years another 4 years?

If any other public company was unaudited like this, there would be serious calls as to why. Instead there are crickets. Don't you want to understand how your money is being spent and are the programs and people all this money is going to is actually working?

Would MCPS benefit from an IG?

Is Steve Austin qualified to be a BoE member?

Two separate questions.

I'll answer:

1. Yes, most definitely.
2. Oh, HELL NO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You may want to look at some of his detailed financial analysis and the budget ideas of one of his opponents that is fiscally undoable.

MCPS has a $2.8 Billion Dollar Budget that is unaudited. No controls are in place to monitor if a program is actually meeting its goals. The Board renewed Dr. Smith contract with an increase without indicating what specific metric he had met to deserve t he renewal or the increase. If the achievement go is so bad why would you give the person that has bee in charge for 4 years another 4 years?

If any other public company was unaudited like this, there would be serious calls as to why. Instead there are crickets. Don't you want to understand how your money is being spent and are the programs and people all this money is going to is actually working?

Well, one reason might be that complex problems take a long time to solve, and changing superintendents every 4 years isn't a great way to operate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You may want to look at some of his detailed financial analysis and the budget ideas of one of his opponents that is fiscally undoable.

MCPS has a $2.8 Billion Dollar Budget that is unaudited. No controls are in place to monitor if a program is actually meeting its goals. The Board renewed Dr. Smith contract with an increase without indicating what specific metric he had met to deserve t he renewal or the increase. If the achievement go is so bad why would you give the person that has bee in charge for 4 years another 4 years?

If any other public company was unaudited like this, there would be serious calls as to why. Instead there are crickets. Don't you want to understand how your money is being spent and are the programs and people all this money is going to is actually working?

Well, one reason might be that complex problems take a long time to solve, and changing superintendents every 4 years isn't a great way to operate.

Based on your logic, you’re saying Trump should get another 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You may want to look at some of his detailed financial analysis and the budget ideas of one of his opponents that is fiscally undoable.

MCPS has a $2.8 Billion Dollar Budget that is unaudited. No controls are in place to monitor if a program is actually meeting its goals. The Board renewed Dr. Smith contract with an increase without indicating what specific metric he had met to deserve t he renewal or the increase. If the achievement go is so bad why would you give the person that has bee in charge for 4 years another 4 years?

If any other public company was unaudited like this, there would be serious calls as to why. Instead there are crickets. Don't you want to understand how your money is being spent and are the programs and people all this money is going to is actually working?

Well, one reason might be that complex problems take a long time to solve, and changing superintendents every 4 years isn't a great way to operate.

Based on your logic, you’re saying Trump should get another 4 years.

You can't possibly be comparing the effect of Jack Smith on MCPS to the effect of Trump on the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You may want to look at some of his detailed financial analysis and the budget ideas of one of his opponents that is fiscally undoable.

MCPS has a $2.8 Billion Dollar Budget that is unaudited. No controls are in place to monitor if a program is actually meeting its goals. The Board renewed Dr. Smith contract with an increase without indicating what specific metric he had met to deserve t he renewal or the increase. If the achievement go is so bad why would you give the person that has bee in charge for 4 years another 4 years?

If any other public company was unaudited like this, there would be serious calls as to why. Instead there are crickets. Don't you want to understand how your money is being spent and are the programs and people all this money is going to is actually working?

Well, one reason might be that complex problems take a long time to solve, and changing superintendents every 4 years isn't a great way to operate.

Based on your logic, you’re saying Trump should get another 4 years.

You can't possibly be comparing the effect of Jack Smith on MCPS to the effect of Trump on the world.

I could say the same thing about Jack Smith’s effect on the local community. It’s the PP’s logic, not mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You may want to look at some of his detailed financial analysis and the budget ideas of one of his opponents that is fiscally undoable.

MCPS has a $2.8 Billion Dollar Budget that is unaudited. No controls are in place to monitor if a program is actually meeting its goals. The Board renewed Dr. Smith contract with an increase without indicating what specific metric he had met to deserve t he renewal or the increase. If the achievement go is so bad why would you give the person that has bee in charge for 4 years another 4 years?

If any other public company was unaudited like this, there would be serious calls as to why. Instead there are crickets. Don't you want to understand how your money is being spent and are the programs and people all this money is going to is actually working?

Well, one reason might be that complex problems take a long time to solve, and changing superintendents every 4 years isn't a great way to operate.

Based on your logic, you’re saying Trump should get another 4 years.

You can't possibly be comparing the effect of Jack Smith on MCPS to the effect of Trump on the world.

I could say the same thing about Jack Smith’s effect on the local community. It’s the PP’s logic, not mine.

Maybe you could, but I couldn't. Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You may want to look at some of his detailed financial analysis and the budget ideas of one of his opponents that is fiscally undoable.

MCPS has a $2.8 Billion Dollar Budget that is unaudited. No controls are in place to monitor if a program is actually meeting its goals. The Board renewed Dr. Smith contract with an increase without indicating what specific metric he had met to deserve t he renewal or the increase. If the achievement go is so bad why would you give the person that has bee in charge for 4 years another 4 years?

If any other public company was unaudited like this, there would be serious calls as to why. Instead there are crickets. Don't you want to understand how your money is being spent and are the programs and people all this money is going to is actually working?

Well, one reason might be that complex problems take a long time to solve, and changing superintendents every 4 years isn't a great way to operate.

Based on your logic, you’re saying Trump should get another 4 years.

You can't possibly be comparing the effect of Jack Smith on MCPS to the effect of Trump on the world.

I could say the same thing about Jack Smith’s effect on the local community. It’s the PP’s logic, not mine.

I'm the PP you're referring to, and no, that is not my logic at all. The two situations are not comparable.

[Anonymous]

Ouch

... There are good choices to represent all perspectives in the upcoming race for Board of Education, At-Large. Stephen Austin is not one of them.

Sincerely,

Sen. Cheryl Kagan
Sen. Nancy King
Sen. Ben Kramer
Sen. Will Smith
Del. Lorig Charkoudian
Del. Charlotte Crutchfield
Del. Bonnie Cullison
Del. Lesley Lopez
Del. Eric Luedtke
Del. David Moon
Del. Kirill Reznik
Del. Vaughn Stewart
County Executive Marc Elrich
Councilmember Gabe Albornoz
Councilmember Tom Hucker
Councilmember Will Jawando
Councilmember Nancy Navarro
Councilmember Craig Rice
Councilmember Hans Riemer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ouch

... There are good choices to represent all perspectives in the upcoming race for Board of Education, At-Large. Stephen Austin is not one of them.

Sincerely,

Sen. Cheryl Kagan
Sen. Nancy King
Sen. Ben Kramer
Sen. Will Smith
Del. Lorig Charkoudian
Del. Charlotte Crutchfield
Del. Bonnie Cullison
Del. Lesley Lopez
Del. Eric Luedtke
Del. David Moon
Del. Kirill Reznik
Del. Vaughn Stewart
County Executive Marc Elrich
Councilmember Gabe Albornoz
Councilmember Tom Hucker
Councilmember Will Jawando
Councilmember Nancy Navarro
Councilmember Craig Rice
Councilmember Hans Riemer

And yet a significant number of voters still support him. I trust then voters more than I do politicians.