Flint City School District elections (2014)

2014 Flint City School District Elections
General Election date:
November 4, 2014
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
Michigan Flint City School District Genesee County, Michigan ballot measures Local ballot measures, Michigan

Three seats on the Flint City School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 4, 2014.

Incumbents Betty Ramsdell and Blake Strozier and challenger Kenyetta V. Dotson defeated Leon A. El-Alamin, Aron Gerics, Alexis A. Love, DeWaun Robinson, Joseph W. Whiteside, and Kirk Whitmore Sr. for the seats. Whitmore informally withdrew from the race in September 2014, but since the withdrawal deadline had already passed on July 25, 2014, he still appeared on the ballot. Board member David Davenport did not file for re-election.

About the district

See also: Flint City School District, Michigan

Flint City School District is located in Genesee County, Michigan.

Flint City School District is located in Genesee County, Michigan. The county seat is Flint. Genesee County had a population of 415,376 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau in 2014. In the 2011-2012 school year, Flint City School District was the 19th-largest school district in Michigan and served 10,114 students.

Demographics

In 2012, Genesee County had a lower percentage of residents with a bachelor's degree compared to the state overall. The United States Census Bureau reported that 19.0 percent of residents aged 25 and older in Genesee County had earned a bachelor's degree, compared with 25.5 percent for Michigan. The county’s median household income was $42,730, below the state median of $48,471. The poverty rate in Genesee County was 19.9 percent, above the state rate of 16.3 percent.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Genesee County (%)	Michigan (%)
White	75.2	80.1
Black or African American	20.8	14.3
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.6	0.7
Asian	1.0	2.7
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.0
Two or more races	2.5	2.2
Hispanic or Latino	3.2	4.7

Presidential Voting Pattern, Genesee County
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	128,978	71,808
2008	143,927	72,451
2004	128,334	83,870
2000	119,833	66,641

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Voter and candidate information

As of the 2014 election, the Flint Board of Education consisted of nine members elected at-large to six-year terms. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 4, 2014. Three seats were up for election in 2014.

School board candidates had to file with their county elections department during the candidate filing period, which ended on July 22, 2014. The deadline to withdraw was on July 25, 2014. Write-in candidates had to file by October 24, 2014. To vote in the 2014 general election, voters had to register by October 6, 2014.

Elections

2014

Candidates

At-large

• Betty Ramsdell
  • Incumbent

• Blake Strozier
  • Incumbent

• Kenyetta V. Dotson

• Leon A. El-Alamin

• Aron Gerics

• Alexis A. Love

• DeWaun Robinson

• Joseph W. Whiteside

• Kirk Whitmore Sr.

Election results

Flint City School District, At-Large General Election, 6-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Kenyetta V. Dotson	20.8%	9,177
	Nonpartisan	Blake Strozier Incumbent	16.6%	7,308
	Nonpartisan	Betty Ramsdell Incumbent	15%	6,587
	Nonpartisan	Alexis A. Love	11.7%	5,156
	Nonpartisan	DeWaun Robinson	9.4%	4,123
	Nonpartisan	Leon A. El-Alamin	8.5%	3,740
	Nonpartisan	Kirk Whitmore Sr.	7.3%	3,205
	Nonpartisan	Joseph W. Whiteside	6.8%	2,973
	Nonpartisan	Aron Gerics	3.4%	1,502
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.6%	251
Total Votes				44,022
Source: Genesee County Election Division, "Summary Report," accessed December 29, 2014

Endorsements

Incumbents Betty Ramsdell and Blake Strozier and challenger Kenyetta V. Dotson each received endorsements from The Flint Journal and the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Committee.

Campaign finance

Candidates reported $2,747.38 in contributions and $863.14 in expenditures during the election, according to the Genesee County Election Division.

In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election and annual campaign statements without legal penalty.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
Betty Ramsdell	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Blake Strozier	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Kenyetta V. Dotson	$2,747.38	$863.14	$1,884.24
Leon A. El-Alamin	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Aron Gerics	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Alexis A. Love	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
DeWaun Robinson	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Joseph W. Whiteside	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Kirk Whitmore Sr.	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2012 Flint City School District, At-Large General Election, 6-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Vera Julie Perry Incumbent 20.3% 15,338      Nonpartisan Antoinette Lockett Incumbent 18.3% 13,808      Nonpartisan Roneeka Pleasant-Brown 15.7% 11,847      Nonpartisan Sheryl D. Ladd 14.4% 10,918      Nonpartisan Stephanie Hackney 11.5% 8,695      Nonpartisan Queentella Tyler 9.5% 7,143      Nonpartisan Benjamin Allyn 8.9% 6,707      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.5% 1,123 Total Votes 75,579 Source: Genesee County Election Division, "General Election," accessed September 1, 2014 Flint City School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Blake Strozier Incumbent 96.1% 23,931      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 3.9% 980 Total Votes 24,911 Source: Genesee County Election Division, "General Election," accessed September 1, 2014 2011 Flint City School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Isaiah Oliver 26.3% 3,826      Nonpartisan Harold Woodson Incumbent 24.5% 3,569      Nonpartisan Ella Greene-Moton 19.8% 2,872      Nonpartisan Johnnie Sue Petrich 16.2% 2,355      Nonpartisan Charles Tutt 12.9% 1,874      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.3% 43 Total Votes 14,539 Source: Genesee County Elections Division, "Official Election Results - Cumulative Report," accessed September 1, 2014

What was at stake?

Issues in the election

October 13 candidate forum

Six of the nine candidates for the school board attended a candidate forum hosted by The Flint Journal on October 13, 2014, to discuss issues facing the district. The primary topics included the potential appointment of an emergency manager, student retention, and the performance of the interim superintendent, Larry Watkins.

All six candidates agreed that an emergency manager was not needed in the district. Leon A. El-Alamin was the only candidate who stated that he would be unwilling to work with an emergency manager if one were appointed. Incumbents Betty Ramsdell and Blake Strozier and challengers Kenyetta V. Dotson, Aron Gerics, and DeWaun Robinson disagreed with El-Alamin on that point and stated that they could work alongside a hypothetical emergency manager. Both Ramsdell and Strozier called for taking measures to reduce the district's $20 million deficit to prevent an emergency manager from being appointed.

The issue of reversing declines in student enrollment was also discussed during the forum. Gerics suggested lobbying the state government to limit the construction of additional charter schools in the area, while Strozier recommended increasing direct outreach to former students to encourage their return to the district. Ramsdell argued that the district's negative reputation has harmed student retention and that increasing positive media attention for the district was an essential step.

Ramsdell expressed strong support for interim Superintendent Larry Watkins' performance, while fellow board member Strozier emphasized the importance of communication between the superintendent and the board. Challengers El-Alamin and Gerics both expressed approval of Watkins’ overall performance but criticized what they viewed as an insufficient return from the district’s recent property sales.

Challengers Alexis A. Love and Joseph W. Whiteside were not present at the candidate forum. Kirk Whitmore Sr., who unofficially withdrew from the race in September 2014, also did not attend.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Flint City School District election in 2014:

Deadline	Event
July 22, 2014	Last day for candidates to file nomination documents
July 25, 2014	Last day for candidates to withdraw
October 6, 2014	Last day to register to vote in the general election
October 24, 2014	Last day for write-in candidates to file nomination documents
November 4, 2014	General election day

Additional elections on the ballot

This election shared the ballot with general elections for a U.S. House seat, U.S. Senate seat, Michigan state executive offices, Michigan House of Representatives seats, and Michigan State Senate seats. It also shared the ballot with county, municipal, and judicial elections.

See also

• Michigan
• Flint City School District, Michigan
• Michigan school board elections, 2014
• List of school board elections in 2014
• School board elections, 2014
• Genesee County, Michigan ballot measures
• Local ballot measures, Michigan

External links

Suggest a link

• Flint City School District
• Genesee County Election Division