TUSD candidate forum: Hear their words (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Blog for Arizona was well-represented at the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) candidate forum, sponsored by Drinking Liberally, last night. As Dave said is his post earlier today, he was the moderator. Sitting next to him, I filmed the entire forum, and, of course, nearby was the "Father of Drinking Liberally Tucson," Mike.

The evening was cordial. There were no outbursts from the candidates or the audience of about 35, which included current TUSD board member Adelita Grijalva.

Unlike Dave, I'm not going to offer candidate critiques, except to say that we disagree. What I am going to provide is the candidates' unedited voices in a series of videos. The first one is attached to this post below.

Dave (and audience members) asked several great questions on a wide range of topics including Mexican American Studies, TUSD's budget, teachers' unions, school closing, administrative downsizing, and many more. Each candidate got one minute to answer each question, plus a 1.5 minute opening and closing statement. If one candidate directly critized another one, the defendant got a 30-second rebuttal. As a result, Kristel Foster and Betts Putnam-Hidalgo gave Dr. Mark Stegeman and Miguel Cuevas a few extra minutes over the course of the evening. 

After the jump, watch the candidates' closing remarks.

 

 

Comments

[Betts Putnam-Hidalgo]

Pamela, are you sure that I criticized De. Stegeman directly? That is not my memory--I look forward to seeing the tape! Thanks so much for posting it. betts*

[Betts Putnam-Hidalgo]

In fact, as I recall, I was given the chance for a rebuttal by Miguel Cuevas (who criticized a policy that I suggested, not me personally). Thanks-b*

[Pamela]

I thought you criticized one of the incumbents. We will see on the videos. There will be about 10 of them... MAS, unions, school closings, testing, recess, budget, etc. stay tuned. I am not editing the video except to add subtitles.

[mbryanaz]

Excellent stuff, Pam. So glad you did this and I'm looking forward to the series.

[Pamela]

Thanks. I chopped up the video clips into individual questions last night and will be uploading them over the next few days.

[David Safier]

Thanks for the video, Pam. This will give others a chance to see all the candidates or individuals they are interested in.

For the record, you had no control over the lousy lighting (at night, in a low light outdoor patio) which makes the candidates look like they're in witness protection programs. The sound is excellent thanks to the portable sound system. Maybe there's a way to "shine more light" on the participants in future taped events, though I don't know how it would be done in the outdoor venue.

[p2h]

Yes, too bad the lighting is poor. I had expected the candidates to be seated perpendicularly to the door, which would have been a tad better than the backlighting. I'm really glad DL has a decent sound system. Just close your eyes and pretend your listening to the radio. :)