Election 2013: Meet the Snoqualmie Valley Candidates Forum Aims to Engage, Inform Local Voters

Time is of the essence. The clock is ticking. The November 5th general election ballots landed in Snoqualmie Valley mailboxes this week. It’s time to vote.

Many voters experience a bit of panic when they find that voters pamphlet in their pile of mail.  It can be overwhelming, trying to learn about levies, bonds, candidates, positions, etc.

election2013If you’re feeling a little “voting overwhelmed” and have questions for the candidates and/or about local propositions, then Wednesday evening, October 23rd, may just help ease your election stress.

The Snoqualmie Valley Rotary (along with Living Snoqualmie) are sponsoring a 2013 Election | Meet the Snoqualmie Valley Candidates Forum on Wednesday, October 23, 2013, from 7 – 9PM in the commons of the Mount Si Freshman Campus.

It’s a chance to hear candidates talk about their positions on policies, important local topics and just meet them in an open, casual setting.  All candidates have been invited, whether they’re running opposed or not, including those running for North Bend and Snoqualmie city councils, SVSD school board, Snoqualmie mayor.  Ballots proposition information will also be available during the event, as Si View Parks has been invited to share info about their latest levy proposition.

Light refreshments will be provided so no one goes hungry.  Join us for a live, interactive local voters pamphlet evening.  Come with questions.  Leave informed. That’s the goal!

For more information visit the 2013 Election | Meet Your Snoqualmie Valley Candidates Facebook page.

 

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Comments

  • Thank you for organizing and staging this forum! I love living and teaching in Snoqualmie Valley!
    I would like to suggest the SVSD Board candidates address the following questions:

    1. Teacher’s workload and expectations to retool, design and implement new curriculum have risen dramatically in recent years to the point where there are seldom enough hours in the workday and even beyond, to accomplish the required tasks. Given that out of class/out of meetings time is now the most critical resource in many teacher’s day, what new and different policies would you advocate for as a board member to alleviate this dilemma?

    2. The new teacher evaluation system requires a substantial increase in out of class meetings with administrators and time to complete related paperwork, creating even less time for planning lessons and correcting papers. What new and different policies would you advocate for to mitigate the increased time crunch this change has created?

    3. With the adoption of the new Common Core State Standards, teachers are being required to teach curriculum that is both new and more challenging for learners and themselves. What new and different resources would you as a board member advocate for to provide teachers the tools and time needed to effectively and efficiently retool to implement them?

    The teacher work environment has been steadily becoming one of conflict vs. collaboration due to scarce resources, increased accountability, changing curriculum and a focus on data. What new and different policies would you advocate for to address this negative element of a teacher’s job?

    4. The new emphasis on testing has created a tremendous drain on learning time and increased teacher workload. Given the large number of assessment hours now required by this district at the elementary grade levels, in addition to the state mandated tests, what new and different policies would you advocate for to decrease the amount of non-essential assessments and increase the amount of teaching and learning time?

    For the City Council and Mayor candidates:
    While the majority of Snoqualmie Valley youth have numerous effective support systems through family, schools, recreation and youth organizations, there remains a significant number of teenagers that, for a variety of reasons, still fall through the cracks despite these services. What new and different policies would you advocate for to provide additional more effective safety nets for this as yet unserved population of our communities?

    Thank you.

    1. Because no one organized one. The Rotary and myself discussed how it was strange no one organized anything this year – and decided to try to do something. We realize it was short notice for ALL the candidates, but we just wanted to try and do something. We hope it will be a great, informal evening with lots of information for area voters.

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