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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t forget that he and his lawyer are also suing to “re-open Maryland” so yeah, he’s that kind of extreme crazy AND has a mysterious employment background.

This is a new claim and since most of these are not true, I’d love to see a link to the case.

Google it! I’m off the clock.

Obviously you know you weren't being truthful and have nothing to link.
But nice try with a flip response.

DP. I linked to it last night.

Right and it doesn't back up the claim at all. It spoke to Garza not Austin.

[Anonymous]

What I find really funny is all the focus on Austin. THere's what, 15 candidates? Why are there no threads asking about Ahadpour, Chaudry, Geller, Odongo, Rhode, Osorio, etc?

All I can surmise is the two "establishment" candidates -- Dasgupta (support by MCEA teacher's union) and Harris (supported by MCCPTA) must really be worried about Austin and their supporters are starting all these threads about Austin.

What's next? Blame Austin for staging the moon landing? Attack his kids by spreading rumors one of them forgot to wash their hands after using the bathroom?

1. Austin is the one candidate pushing a false narrative that MCPS will be using buses to involuntarily send students across the county as a result of the boundary study. As a member of his Facebook group, I encourage anyone curious as to why his candidacy is so contentious to join and see for yourself the ridiculous statements made by Austin and several core members of his group. No one is going to be bussed from Potomac to White Oak, but that is THE core belief pushed on his group. In truth, the focus is on adjacent boundaries as candidates like Sunil have gone on the record as stating. There so much disparity between adjacent boundaries and students who are already on 30+ minute bus rides to schools much further away than their closest school that the consideration of involuntarily sending students across the county has never been brought up by anyone outside of the conspiracy theory touted in his group.

2. Austin is the one candidate with ZERO EXPERIENCE in education (see the Bethesda Magazine profile), yet he touts this as a positive. This is an insult to the other candidates who have invested and collaborated with education professionals and know how to make their input value-added in a collaborative environment. We are not going to grow and mitigate challenging situations in MCPS by electing an antagonist. We all have to work together to get this done. Anyone with experience on a volunteer committee (even outside of education) knows this is the case. Stephen Austin has no experience in education and the way he carries himself conveys the likelihood he has never volunteered or collaborated with others before in his life. We deserve a candidate with a track record of positive results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone answered on page 2 that he is employed at Lockheed Martin and it was barely acknowledged. Posters then continue to complain about his mysterious employment and how he's not qualified without even looking.
Yes, I'm talking to you 8:30.

Perhaps you don't know that he had previously refused to say where he was employed? It was enough to make a person wonder.

And then, if it turns out that he's employed as a portfolio manager at Lockheed Martin, why all the mystery? Why not just say that he works there in the first place?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
1. Austin is the one candidate pushing a false narrative that MCPS will be using buses to involuntarily send students across the county as a result of the boundary study. As a member of his Facebook group, I encourage anyone curious as to why his candidacy is so contentious to join and see for yourself the ridiculous statements made by Austin and several core members of his group. No one is going to be bussed from Potomac to White Oak, but that is THE core belief pushed on his group. In truth, the focus is on adjacent boundaries as candidates like Sunil have gone on the record as stating. There so much disparity between adjacent boundaries and students who are already on 30+ minute bus rides to schools much further away than their closest school that the consideration of involuntarily sending students across the county has never been brought up by anyone outside of the conspiracy theory touted in his group.

2. Austin is the one candidate with ZERO EXPERIENCE in education (see the Bethesda Magazine profile), yet he touts this as a positive. This is an insult to the other candidates who have invested and collaborated with education professionals and know how to make their input value-added in a collaborative environment. We are not going to grow and mitigate challenging situations in MCPS by electing an antagonist. We all have to work together to get this done. Anyone with experience on a volunteer committee (even outside of education) knows this is the case. Stephen Austin has no experience in education and the way he carries himself conveys the likelihood he has never volunteered or collaborated with others before in his life. We deserve a candidate with a track record of positive results.

For busing, I agree the analysis has not said there will be busing, but it also has not said there won't be busing. The analysis is not at the stage of drawing boundaries, so how can we know either way until boundaries are drawn?

As for experience, the current BOE is a bunch of yes-women. They voted unanimously to renew Smith's contract earlier this year, along with a nice pay increase and more vacation time. Note a dissenter among them. None of them questioning how he's done on meeting various targets. Just a rubber stamp yes. We need some people actually questioning MCPS, instead of saying Yes all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone answered on page 2 that he is employed at Lockheed Martin and it was barely acknowledged. Posters then continue to complain about his mysterious employment and how he's not qualified without even looking.
Yes, I'm talking to you 8:30.

Perhaps you don't know that he had previously refused to say where he was employed? It was enough to make a person wonder.

And then, if it turns out that he's employed as a portfolio manager at Lockheed Martin, why all the mystery? Why not just say that he works there in the first place?

I realize that was the initial question (no problem there) but some of the anti-Austin people are so ready to fight they don’t even read or acknowledge the answer. Is that asking too much? That you actually listen to the answer instead of pointing fingers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
1. Austin is the one candidate pushing a false narrative that MCPS will be using buses to involuntarily send students across the county as a result of the boundary study. As a member of his Facebook group, I encourage anyone curious as to why his candidacy is so contentious to join and see for yourself the ridiculous statements made by Austin and several core members of his group. No one is going to be bussed from Potomac to White Oak, but that is THE core belief pushed on his group. In truth, the focus is on adjacent boundaries as candidates like Sunil have gone on the record as stating. There so much disparity between adjacent boundaries and students who are already on 30+ minute bus rides to schools much further away than their closest school that the consideration of involuntarily sending students across the county has never been brought up by anyone outside of the conspiracy theory touted in his group.

2. Austin is the one candidate with ZERO EXPERIENCE in education (see the Bethesda Magazine profile), yet he touts this as a positive. This is an insult to the other candidates who have invested and collaborated with education professionals and know how to make their input value-added in a collaborative environment. We are not going to grow and mitigate challenging situations in MCPS by electing an antagonist. We all have to work together to get this done. Anyone with experience on a volunteer committee (even outside of education) knows this is the case. Stephen Austin has no experience in education and the way he carries himself conveys the likelihood he has never volunteered or collaborated with others before in his life. We deserve a candidate with a track record of positive results.

For busing, I agree the analysis has not said there will be busing, but it also has not said there won't be busing. The analysis is not at the stage of drawing boundaries, so how can we know either way until boundaries are drawn?

As for experience, the current BOE is a bunch of yes-women. They voted unanimously to renew Smith's contract earlier this year, along with a nice pay increase and more vacation time. Note a dissenter among them. None of them questioning how he's done on meeting various targets. Just a rubber stamp yes. We need some people actually questioning MCPS, instead of saying Yes all the time.

1. Are you a member of his group? Please go count how many times Austin himself has labeled other candidates as pro-busing?

2. Being a skeptic is not worthy of a bullet point on a resume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

For busing, I agree the analysis has not said there will be busing, but it also has not said there won't be busing. The analysis is not at the stage of drawing boundaries, so how can we know either way until boundaries are drawn?

As for experience, the current BOE is a bunch of yes-women. They voted unanimously to renew Smith's contract earlier this year, along with a nice pay increase and more vacation time. Note a dissenter among them. None of them questioning how he's done on meeting various targets. Just a rubber stamp yes. We need some people actually questioning MCPS, instead of saying Yes all the time.

You know, I'm not one to see racism or sexism everywhere. You'll have to take my word on this.

But after the umpteenth time of reading on DCUM that we must elect a white Bethesda/Potomac man with no experience, because the white/brown/black women on the school board are dumb, unqualified pushovers -- well, it does raise questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

For busing, I agree the analysis has not said there will be busing, but it also has not said there won't be busing. The analysis is not at the stage of drawing boundaries, so how can we know either way until boundaries are drawn?

As for experience, the current BOE is a bunch of yes-women. They voted unanimously to renew Smith's contract earlier this year, along with a nice pay increase and more vacation time. Note a dissenter among them. None of them questioning how he's done on meeting various targets. Just a rubber stamp yes. We need some people actually questioning MCPS, instead of saying Yes all the time.

Yeah, they did say that.

The response from Austin's supporters was, "We don't believe you, you're lying."

[Anonymous]

All of you teacher's union folks posting about how terrible Steve Austin is are just making me more sure that he is my guy for the BOE. All this hate is actually fear and that tells me that he is the right man for the job. Thanks for making my vote easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of you teacher's union folks posting about how terrible Steve Austin is are just making me more sure that he is my guy for the BOE. All this hate is actually fear and that tells me that he is the right man for the job. Thanks for making my vote easy.

"It would be a bad idea to jump off that cliff. It's a long way down, and there are rocks at the bottom. Instead, you should choose one of those 5 paths to get you to the bottom of the cliff safely."
"You know what? I'm going to go right ahead and jump off that cliff. You're telling me not to, and that just makes me more sure that jumping off the cliff is the right thing to do!"

Whoops.

(I'm an MCPS parent. I'm not a member of the MCEA.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of you teacher's union folks posting about how terrible Steve Austin is are just making me more sure that he is my guy for the BOE. All this hate is actually fear and that tells me that he is the right man for the job. Thanks for making my vote easy.

Exactly! All these crazy posts got me to read through his website and twitter feed. I've now decided to donate and actively campaign for the guy. Thanks everyone. From a broken home, immigrant wife, bi-racial kids in MCPS, self made success story and an outsider who is sick of the status quo. I agree that all the negative posts are coming from a place of fear. Steve Austin for BOE!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of you teacher's union folks posting about how terrible Steve Austin is are just making me more sure that he is my guy for the BOE. All this hate is actually fear and that tells me that he is the right man for the job. Thanks for making my vote easy.

Exactly! All these crazy posts got me to read through his website and twitter feed. I've now decided to donate and actively campaign for the guy. Thanks everyone. From a broken home, immigrant wife, bi-racial kids in MCPS, self made success story and an outsider who is sick of the status quo. I agree that all the negative posts are coming from a place of fear. Steve Austin for BOE!!

You're not wrong. They're coming from a fear that Steve Austin would be an unqualified and divisive person to have on the Board of Education. Unqualified AND divisive, that's a bad combination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of you teacher's union folks posting about how terrible Steve Austin is are just making me more sure that he is my guy for the BOE. All this hate is actually fear and that tells me that he is the right man for the job. Thanks for making my vote easy.

Exactly! All these crazy posts got me to read through his website and twitter feed. I've now decided to donate and actively campaign for the guy. Thanks everyone. From a broken home, immigrant wife, bi-racial kids in MCPS, self made success story and an outsider who is sick of the status quo. I agree that all the negative posts are coming from a place of fear. Steve Austin for BOE!!

You're not wrong. They're coming from a fear that Steve Austin would be an unqualified and divisive person to have on the Board of Education. Unqualified AND divisive, that's a bad combination.

You don't get it. This is exactly what many of us are looking for - an outsider with a new perspective. Steve Austin won't be someone that you union reps can control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of you teacher's union folks posting about how terrible Steve Austin is are just making me more sure that he is my guy for the BOE. All this hate is actually fear and that tells me that he is the right man for the job. Thanks for making my vote easy.

Exactly! All these crazy posts got me to read through his website and twitter feed. I've now decided to donate and actively campaign for the guy. Thanks everyone. From a broken home, immigrant wife, bi-racial kids in MCPS, self made success story and an outsider who is sick of the status quo. I agree that all the negative posts are coming from a place of fear. Steve Austin for BOE!!

You're not wrong. They're coming from a fear that Steve Austin would be an unqualified and divisive person to have on the Board of Education. Unqualified AND divisive, that's a bad combination.

You don't get it. This is exactly what many of us are looking for - an outsider with a new perspective. Steve Austin won't be someone that you union reps can control.

I do get it. You're looking for an unqualified and divisive person, and he's just the candidate.

I am NOT saying that Steve Austin is like Donald Trump. I am saying, however, that your reason for voting for Steve Austin (he's "an outsider with new perspective," the establishment won't be able to "control" him) is the same reason many gave for voting for Donald Trump. And see how that turned out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of you teacher's union folks posting about how terrible Steve Austin is are just making me more sure that he is my guy for the BOE. All this hate is actually fear and that tells me that he is the right man for the job. Thanks for making my vote easy.

Exactly! All these crazy posts got me to read through his website and twitter feed. I've now decided to donate and actively campaign for the guy. Thanks everyone. From a broken home, immigrant wife, bi-racial kids in MCPS, self made success story and an outsider who is sick of the status quo. I agree that all the negative posts are coming from a place of fear. Steve Austin for BOE!!

You're not wrong. They're coming from a fear that Steve Austin would be an unqualified and divisive person to have on the Board of Education. Unqualified AND divisive, that's a bad combination.

You don't get it. This is exactly what many of us are looking for - an outsider with a new perspective. Steve Austin won't be someone that you union reps can control.

I do get it. You're looking for an unqualified and divisive person, and he's just the candidate.

I am NOT saying that Steve Austin is like Donald Trump. I am saying, however, that your reason for voting for Steve Austin (he's "an outsider with new perspective," the establishment won't be able to "control" him) is the same reason many gave for voting for Donald Trump. And see how that turned out.

The difference is the president has absolute power in certain areas. The BOE is one of 7 (8 with SMOB, right?). One rogue board member can't do much unless they convince a few others of their side. I like the alternative viewpoint Austin may bring. Why do so many BOE votes end up unanimous? It shows they're all a bunch of yes-women. MoCo values diversity, let's get some viewpoint diversity also.