05/12/2017
Please vote for John P. Gambee for Junction City School Board!
John is one of the 4 candidates running to bring new ideas to the District. Please see our "Letter to the Editor" in this week's edition of The Tribune News for a small sampling of some of the issues at stake.. Please message John on facebook if you'd like to discuss something further. He'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions or concerns. He is running for Position #5 against Judy Croce and he paid for this sponsored post!.
For more info please see his complete bio at:
www.facebook.com/john.p.gambee
Dear Voter: When I first started attending School Board meetings and reading the notes of other meetings I couldn't attend, I had no intention of ever running for the school board. However, after reading through years and years of notes and attending meetings some of the meetings during the last several years, I started to see a real problem. I saw a Board that was very disconnected from the District that it is supposed to represent and was not very transparent.
A couple years ago, I started a group to encourage people from all walks of life to participate in our government processes. I feel strongly that it is our duty as Americans to participate, to volunteer and to work to make our cities, counties, state and nation better. And I feel strongly that when we participate, we will make our communities better. So, I realised that unless I get involved, I will be stuck with the mediocre situation that we are currently in. Mediocre maintenance of the buildings (resulting in the District's current assessment that $50+ Million in work is still necessary AFTER the current bond $$$ is spent) and average report cards from both the Oregon Department of Education and US News and World Reports.
Our current School Board members and Superintendent want to blame the lack of maintenance of our schools on the voters (for not passing enough bonds over the past 20 years), despite the reality of the $20+ Million annual budget (not including bond money). The schools have more $$$ then our citizens (per capita) - the average family of four in our district has $50,000/year while the school district has over $52,000 for every 4 children - and yet we are constantly told that the schools never have enough. That is a serious disconnect between the district and the people. The reality of the Superintendent's 25+ year tenure and the current school board members who are up for re-election after over 15 years is that their mismanagement of the school's money has left our buildings in disrepair and our students getting average educations! I think, as I am sure that you do, that we can do better for our children!
Another example. The School Board voted unanimously to put forward a bond in May 2016. After voting to put forward the bond, the school district spent close to $100,000 in time and $$$ pushing that bond, despite the fact that the bond WAS NOT addressing the District's #1 priority, Laurel Elementary. Despite all that $$$ spent on pushing the bond, only 29% of the District's voters voted "Yes" on the bond. 25% voted "No" and 46% did not vote at all. So, 71% of the District did not agree with the unanimous School Board. Meanwhile, Laurel Elementary is put off another 5-8 years.
I am bilingual. Yo hablo Ingles y Espanol. I speak English and Spanish. I have been working on budgets and bookkeeping since 2002 when I moved back to Oregon. I currently own The Courtyard on Sixth in Junction City and am a land developer. I attended Springfield High School and graduated 5th in my class of about 450. I got 2 Bs. I took a full ride scholarship. I was Student Body President of my middle school at Hamlin. I was Student Body President of my High School. I was Student Body Vice President of Communications at BYU. I was captain of the Basketball team, the Track team, the Choir and I lettered in drama :) I did great in college until my brother died after his junior year at JCHS. After that I didn't do so well in college. I did manage to graduate with a degree in Communications with significant course work in Business and Spanish. The reason I mention this is because I want you to know that I have worked very well with teachers and school staff my whole life. For every opportunity to be President I had, there was a teacher or adviser right there helping me along! I am a volunteer coach a couple seasons a year. I volunteer with the Scouts and Cub Scouts. Since college, I have been self-employed. I learned the hard way how to stretch a penny and have managed projects worth millions of $$$. I have 6 beautiful children who make Brenda and I very happy and who, despite persistent rumors to the contrary, have attended all our district schools! :)
I don't expect perfection from anyone, but I do strive for excellence and will strive for greatness in our community, schools, in our families and with our students! Under our current leadership (in the last 20+ years), the education our children receive has deteriorated right along with the buildings that have been left without maintenance. We need a new, united effort to stop the decay!
