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Jill Ortman-Fouse
Jill Ortman-Fouse is a former at-large representative on the Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland. She advanced from a primary election on June 24, 2014, to face Shebra Evans in the general election on November 4, 2014. Jill Ortman-Fouse won the general election on November 4, 2014.
Biography
Ortman-Fouse completed her B.A. in broadcast communications from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has worked as a leadership coach with T.E.A.M. Consulting since 2010. Ortman-Fouse is also an advisory board member for the YMCA of Silver Spring. She has been a PTA president and school volunteer for more than a decade. Ortman-Fouse and her husband have two children.[1][2]
Elections
2014
Judy Docca ran against Kristin C. Trible in the November 4, 2014, general election. District 3 incumbent Patricia O'Neill sought re-election against Laurie Halverson. Newcomer Larry E. Edmonds ran against board member Mike Durso for the District 5 seat. The at-large race started with a primary election on June 24, 2014, featuring newcomers Edward Amatetti, Shebra Evans, Merry Eisner-Heidorn and Jill Ortman-Fouse. Evans and Ortman-Fouse advanced to the general election on November 4, 2014.
Results
General
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Jill Ortman-Fouse |
51.7% | 95,900 | |
| Nonpartisan | Shebra Evans | 47.8% | 88,631 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.6% | 1,033 | |
| Total Votes | 185,564 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2014 Gubernatorial General Election Results for Montgomery County," December 2, 2014 | ||||
Primary
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Jill Ortman-Fouse |
34.1% | 28,871 | |
| Nonpartisan | Shebra Evans |
31.2% | 26,405 | |
| Nonpartisan | Edward Amatetti | 20.6% | 17,426 | |
| Nonpartisan | Merry Eisner-Heidorn | 14% | 11,860 | |
| Total Votes | 84,562 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for Montgomery County," July 16, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Ortman-Fouse reported $6,621.03 in contributions and $602.85 in expenditures to the Maryland State Board of Elections, leaving her campaign with $6,018.18 on hand as of June 6, 2014.[3]
Endorsements
Ortman-Fouse was endorsed by the following organizations, state politicians, local politicians and community members:[4]
Organizations
- The Washington Post
- Gazette.net
- Montgomery County National Organization for Women (NOW) PAC
- United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1994
- Montgomery County Public Schools Retirees Association, Inc.
- Hispanic Democratic Club of Montgomery County
- Brickyard Coalition
- One Montgomery
- Progressive Neighbors
State politicians
- Brian Feldman, Maryland State Senate, District 15
- Jennie Forehand, Maryland State Senate, District 17
- Peter Franchot, Maryland Comptroller
- Doug Gansler, Maryland Attorney General
- Tom Hucker, Maryland House of Delegates, District 20; and Democratic nominee, County Council, District 5
- Cheryl Kagan, Democratic nominee, Maryland State Senate, District 17
- Marc Korman, Democratic nominee, Maryland State Senate, District 16
- Jamie Raskin, Maryland State Senate, District 20
- Kirill Reznik, Maryland House of Delegates, District 39
- Shane Robinson, Maryland House of Delegates, District 39
Local politicians
- Phil Andrews, county councilmember
- Doug Duncan, former county executive
- Seth Grimes, Takoma Park City councilmember
- Marc Elrich, county councilmember
- Valerie Ervin, former county councilmember
- Nancy Floreen, county councilmember
- Sidney Katz, Mayor of Gaithersburg; and Democratic nominee, county council
- George Leventhal, county council vice-president
- Tim Male, Takoma Park City councilmember
Community members
- Tebabu Assefa, co-founder, Blessed Coffee
- Diana Conway, board member, Montgomery Countryside Alliance
- Busy Graham, founder, Class Acts Arts
- Lindsey Parsons, co-founder, Real Food for Kids—Montgomery
- Julie Reiley, founder, Maryland Coalition for Special Education Rights
- Ada Villatoro, vice-president, Long Branch Business League
Campaign themes
2014
Ortman-Fouse listed her themes for the 2014 campaign on her campaign website:
| “ | My focus: Improving our schools and maximizing achievement of students Whether it is through my civic work as president of my neighborhood association, president of our elementary school PTA or lobbying and testifying for educational funding on behalf of the Montgomery County Council PTA at the local and state level, improving our schools and maximizing achievement among all of our children has been my focus. Through each of these experiences, I have been about getting the job done and building bridges so people can work together for common goals. It’s what I do in my job as a strategic planner and facilitator, and it is what I want to do for the Montgomery County Public School system. I believe in bringing more voices to the rooms where decisions are made, and asking critical questions to ensure that issues are addressed and input is considered when policy and resources are allocated. The board has an important role to play in providing leadership and oversight -- as a parent, civic leader and entrepreneur, I am committed to strengthening our system and ensuring we live up to our values and invest in all our children. My belief: The opportunity gap begins early; we can do more to ensure that all students are thriving I believe Montgomery County Public Schools can be even better! But this can only happen if county leaders:
My passion: Making the world a better place has motivated my decisions about where to invest my talent and energy
From using my communications background to produce documentaries on illiteracy, poverty and homelessness; to my service as a full-time volunteer with Habitat for Humanity building houses in Georgia, Guatemala, Mexico and Costa Rica; to lobbying Congress for environmental justice, creating a better world has been my priority. I believe that our schools are great but not all of our schools experience the same support or enjoy the same resources necessary to tackle the unique problems of their students. My journey into Montgomery County Schools began before my daughter started kindergarten. I reached out to the principal and offered my time and energy to support the school. She invited me to serve on the school's Instructional Improvement Team and I attended my first MCPS training that summer. Our school was a hidden gem with great teachers and amazing students and families who came from around world. The more families I talked with I realized that few were involved with our school, and even less understood the resources available because of our Title I designation. My approach: Listening to different points of view, engaging in candid conversations and activating networks to solve problems As I listened to the concerns of school staff and witnessed the need for more support, I set out to build a team in our community and across our county that would champion our school and other area schools with high needs, because more hands on deck lightens the load. I worked with our diverse population and found partners in unlikely places. I reached out to elected leaders, met with school board members and recruited other parents to be engaged. My activism and engagement is inspired by a deep belief that our public schools need to be a place for all kids to succeed and where all kids can succeed. So yes, I was that mom knocking on the door of the school house before my daughter was enrolled for kindergarten. I was interested in learning how I could help. I rolled up my sleeves and began to work to strengthen our school by engaging our community, and I continue to do so. Real engagement is how we can work together to tackle problems and ensure our schools are serving all of our kids. I hope you will join me.[5] |
” |
| —Jill Ortman-Fouse's campaign website, (2014) | ||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Jill + Ortman + Fouse + Montgomery + County + Public + Schools"
See also
External links
- Montgomery County Public Schools
- Office website
- Campaign website
- Campaign Facebook page
- LinkedIn profile
- Twitter profile
Footnotes
- ↑ Friends of Jill Ortman-Fouse, "About Jill," accessed May 2, 2014
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Jill Ortman-Fouse," accessed May 2, 2014
- ↑ Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System, "View Filed Reports," accessed May 22, 2014
- ↑ Jill Ortman-Fouse, "Endorsements," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Friends of Jill Ortman-Fouse, "Results," accessed May 2, 2014
| 2014 Montgomery County Public Schools Elections | |
| Rockville, Maryland | |
| Election date: | November 4, 2014 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Edward Amatetti • Shebra Evans • Merry Eisner-Heidorn • Jill Ortman-Fouse District 1: • Judy Docca • Kristin C. Trible |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
