Success at Seneca Valley is not an Accident

This blog post is in response to a Patch member that goes by the name "Boyerwedum". He commented on the story, "Seneca Valley School Board Member Announces Run for Cranberry Supervisor".

Boyerwedum: Sure, it isn't enough that Mr. Gordon runs the school district's finances into the ground. Now let's give him a shot at the largest municipality in the county.

My response:

I appreciate your comment, @Boyerwedum, as it provides an opportunity to highlight some of the work we have done at Seneca Valley, and why I'm running for Cranberry Township Supervisor:

1) PROTECTING THE TAXPAYERS: As I'm sure you are aware, the federal and state governments have eliminated significant amounts of school funding in recent years through budget cuts and increased pension contributions. This has caused the large budget deficits we've seen at the local level, not any sort of mismanagement by the current board of supervisors. Even with such large budget deficits, I have never voted for a budget that wasn't balanced and with significant cuts! I have dedicated countless hours to ensure that Seneca Valley is living within its means, especially through these tough economic times, and all the while still providing students with an exceptional education. In fact, this past year we were able to ADD money to our fund balance! That is a product of good financial management.

2) RECOGNIZED QUALITY PERFORMANCE: I understand that there is a certain number of people out there that hate to pay any amount in school taxes. That said, the vast majority of people understand the value of an educated society and the financial benefits of living in a good school district. More often than not, residents have told me that they don't mind paying for good schools, as long as their money isn't going to waste. I have taken great pride in my ability to balance the tax burden on myself and other residents with the need to provide a quality education for our children. Seneca Valley has continued to move up the regional ranks, and has even garnered national recognition for our middle school at the main campus. This is with a 10% overall reduction in staff and an over 20% reduction in building budgets since I joined the board.

3) ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY: Last year, I tackled an issue that is rarely addressed by anybody in our public schools, and that is effective administrator evaluations. I take my job as a watchdog of the people very seriously. Against some very serious pressure, I pushed to create a new tool that holds our superintendent accountable for overall district performance and goals set by the board. Prior to this implementation, the superintendent was held accountable only for individual character traits and personal performance. I modeled my efforts from my experience in the U.S. Navy; now, the Seneca Valley superintendent is responsible for all things in the district, just as the captain of a vessel is ultimately responsible for all things on their ship.

I'm running for Township Supervisor because I have the experience to get things done right! The current board is unfortunately turning a blind eye to budgetary issues that will result in service cuts or, more likely, a spike in tax rates. My opponent wants to go right along with them. I will work to expose these issues and get them fixed, before they become a problem. I am the only candidate running with the experience to get this done.

Please consider what I have written. Thank you!