Ben Tyson
Ben Tyson was a candidate for at-large representative on the Columbus City Schools Board of Education in Ohio. The general election was held on November 3, 2015. Tyson was one of the eight candidates to advance from the primary election held on May 5, 2015.[1] Ben Tyson lost the general election on November 3, 2015.
Incumbents Gary Baker and Shawna Gibbs were on the board when the district paid a tutoring company over $800,000 for unperformed tutoring services. Candidate Bernadine Kennedy Kent brought the fraud to the attention of the FBI, leading to an investigation and financial audit of the district.[2]
Biography
Tyson is the director of community relations for Steiner and Associates. He obtained his bachelor's degree in business from Ohio Dominican University.[3]
Elections
2015
- See also: Columbus City Schools elections (2015)
Opposition
Four of the seven seats on the Columbus City Schools Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 3, 2015. A primary election was held on May 5, 2015.
Three incumbents—Gary Baker, Shawna Gibbs, and Mary Jo Hudson—won re-election to their seats. Eric Brown won the fourth seat left open by incumbent Bryan Steward. Challengers Jim Hunter, Bernadine Kennedy Kent, Tina Pierce and Ben Tyson were defeated in the general election. Brian Bainbridge and Robert Sharrah were defeated in the primary election.[4][5]
Results
| Columbus City Schools, At-Large, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mary Jo Hudson Incumbent |
20.0% | 59,922 |
| Eric Brown |
18.0% | 53,778 |
| Shawna Gibbs Incumbent |
15.7% | 46,947 |
| Gary Baker Incumbent |
12.6% | 37,755 |
| Tina Pierce | 10.9% | 32,699 |
| Ben Tyson | 9.1% | 27,173 |
| Jim Hunter | 7.6% | 22,813 |
| Bernadine Kennedy Kent | 6.0% | 17,910 |
| Total Votes | 298,997 | |
| Source: Franklin County, Ohio, "2015 General Election Official Results," November 27, 2015 | ||
| Columbus Board of Education, At-Large Primary Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Mary Jo Hudson Incumbent |
16.1% | 16,399 | |
| Nonpartisan | Shawna Gibbs Incumbent |
13.8% | 14,068 | |
| Nonpartisan | Eric Brown |
13.1% | 13,343 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tina Pierce |
10.4% | 10,595 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bernadine Kennedy Kent |
8.8% | 9,018 | |
| Nonpartisan | Gary Baker Incumbent |
8.6% | 8,748 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ben Tyson |
8.3% | 8,505 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jim Hunter |
7.5% | 7,683 | |
| Nonpartisan | Brian Bainbridge | 7.5% | 7,607 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert Sharrah | 6% | 6,078 | |
| Total Votes | 102,044 | |||
| Source: Franklin County Board of Elections, "Franklin County Only Official Results Primary Election May 2015," accessed October 26, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Tyson reported $21,910.00 in contributions and $20,873.38 in expenditures to the Franklin County Board of Elections, which left his campaign with $1,036.62 on hand in the election.[6]
Endorsements
Tyson received an official endorsement from The Columbus Dispatch.[7]
What was at stake?
2015
- See also: 2013 school board elections
Four seats were up for election in 2015. Three incumbents, Gary Baker, Shawna Gibbs and Mary Jo Hudson, were running for re-election. They faced five challengers for the four seats in the general election.[8]
| Voter Participation 2011-2015, Franklin County[9] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Voter Turnout (%) | Total votes in school board election |
| 2015 | 34.4 | 286,178 |
| 2013 | 17.6 | 139,515 |
| 2011 | 29.3 | 219,645 |
A primary election was held for the district when there were more than double the number of candidates per open seat. There was no primary election held in 2011 or 2013. The 2013 election averaged two candidates per seat with six candidates running for three seats. Of the three incumbents running, only one of them won re-election. The 2011 election only had three candidates running for four seats, two of which were incumbents who won re-election. The fourth seat had to be filled by a write-in candidate. A primary election was held in 2015 when the race averaged 2.5 candidates per seat. Three incumbents won in the general election.
In addition to the increase in the average number of candidates between 2011 and 2015, the total number of votes in the election also experienced a 30 percent increase during that time. The 2011 election garnered 57 percent more votes than the 2013 election. The 2015 election had a 105 percent increase in total votes, compared to the 2013 election. Voter turnout took a 40 percent decrease between 2011 and 2013. Turnout improved between 2013-2015 by 95 percent.
Issues in the district
Audit discovers payments for unperformed services
The state of Ohio conducted a special investigation audit that discovered approximately $850,000 in payments from Columbus City Schools to tutoring companies for services that were never provided. The money was paid to 27 different tutoring companies to tutor at-risk students in the district as part of a federal grant program provided by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The district received the NCLB money from the state as part of the now defunct Supplemental Educational Services program. The district was billed for students who did not attend the tutoring sessions or who were not attending school in the district. Two tutoring company owners, Mussa Farrah and Ashkir Ali, were charged with aggravated identity theft and making false statements as a result of the investigation.[10]
School board candidate Bernadine Kennedy Kent and her husband, James Whitaker, attempted to uncover the fraud in 2006 when they filed a report with the Columbus Police Department that alleged fraud involving the NCLB funds. Kent was an assistant principal in the district and operator of the nonprofit Parents Advocates for Students in Schools (PASS). After no action was taken by the Columbus Police Department, Kent and Whitaker went to the FBI with the information they had collected regarding the fraudulent payments. The FBI then launched an investigation, which led to the state audit. In 2014, it was discovered that Kent and Whitaker had been placed on a "chronic complainer" list by the Columbus Police Department, leading to their original report being ignored.[11][12]
While the tutoring providers submitted false invoices to the district, Ohio state auditor Dave Yost criticized the district for a lack of oversight: “Even if you don’t do it for every single invoice, to not at least sample some of those invoices and check it back is a little bit puzzling." The district released a statement regarding the audit that said it had implemented new accounting practices since that time.[2]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Ben Tyson' 'Columbus City Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Columbus City Schools, Ohio
- Columbus City Schools elections (2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcandidates - ↑ 2.0 2.1 WOSU Radio, "Columbus City Schools Bilked Out Of Tutoring Money," October 5, 2015
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Ben Tyson," accessed October 15, 2015
- ↑ Columbus City Schools, "Board of Education," accessed July 14, 2015
- ↑ Franklin County, Ohio, "2015 General Election Unofficial Results," November 3, 2015
- ↑ Franklin County Board of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed February 3, 2016
- ↑ The Columbus Dispatch, "For school board," October 6, 2015
- ↑ Franklin County, Ohio, "General Certified Candidate List," accessed August 6, 2015
- ↑ Franklin County, Ohio, "Election Archives," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ The Columbus Dispatch, "Audit: Fake tutoring accounts cost taxpayers more than $800,000," October 6, 2015
- ↑ Columbus Free Press, "Are you on the Columbus Police's secret blacklist," January 30, 2014
- ↑ The Columbus Dispatch, "Complainers list holds risk," March 24, 2014
| 2015 Columbus City Schools Elections | |
| Franklin County, Ohio | |
| Election date: | Primary election: May 5, 2015 General election: November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Brian Bainbridge • Incumbent, Gary Baker • Shawna Gibbs • Mary Jo Hudson • Eric Brown • Jim Hunter • Bernadine Kennedy Kent • Tina Pierce • Robert Sharrah • Ben Tyson |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
