To the taxpayers and residents of Richfield Springs Central School:
I would like to share ten things I learned while running for the RSCS Board of Education.
1. Nancy Brown and Nancy Clickman ran gracious campaigns and served us all well.
2. The RSCS district is comprised of struggling people who are living on less and paying more for things they have no control over such as gas, fuel and rising food prices.
3. God gave me two ears and one mouth, meaning that I should listen twice as much as I talk (I’ll continually need help on this!).
4. People are not stupid and when they are not told things with clarity they get suspicious.
5. Residents and taxpayers don’t all understand how to vote in a voting machine.
6. Retired people don’t always vote “No” and parents of RSCS students don’t always vote “yes” on the budget.
7. When an election is over, many people want to share the victory and feel like they’ve won, too. That’s a good thing!
8. Board member-elect Scot Mondore has great ideas and vision for RSCS. It’s exciting that he got elected! Expect great things from him.
9. Robert Barraco, superintendent of schools, called my home soon after the voting machine results were read. We had been advised to not be present at the time the results were read. He immediately reached out to the newly elected board members and is already orientating us to school policies and procedures. Change is a scary thing and I want to say that he has been a “class act” before, during, and after the voting on May 19.
10. When you campaign at the local solid waster transfer station... you’ll be asked (if you get elected) if you will be there every Saturday to help handle peoples’ garbage and recyclables. The answer is, “No, my wife has a difficult time getting me to do it at our own home!”
I look forward to serving on the RSCS Board of Education beginning in July and will continue to be outspoken and an advocate for the taxpayers, staff and students at our school. Please help me stay centered. Thank you to my wonderful wife, Karen, and our sons who supported this imperfect person and saw beyond the mistakes in judgment I made.
To those who were for or against: the train is leaving the station and our students and staff are aboard. Come with us! Lend your support and be a part of the team effort to move them toward excellence. Attend meetings, voice your opinion, and seek out those who can answer questions. Let’s stop talking about people and let’s focus on ideas that will shape tomorrow. Join us; there’s always room for one more!
Bruce S. Watson Richfield Springs |