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Jim Venturini
Jim Venturini was a candidate for District 6 representative on the Racine Board of Education in Wisconsin. Venturini advanced from the primary election on February 16, 2016. Venturini lost to John Heckenlively in the general election on April 5, 2016.[1]
Biography
Venturini earned his high school diploma from Saint Catherine High School. He later received his bachelor's degree in business and managerial economics from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in 1976. Venturini has worked as an insurance agent with David Insurance Agency since 2009.[2]
Elections
2016
The 2016 election for all nine seats on the Racine Unified School District was the district's first using a by district system rather than electing members at-large. A primary election was held on February 16, 2016, for Districts 6 and 7 with the general election on April 5, 2016. Board candidates were required to live in their election districts. The change was enshrined in state law through legislation sponsored by State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R) and State Rep. Tom Weatherson (R), who represent districts that include Racine. The election districts approved by the school board on October 27, 2015, led to three races in 2016 where three incumbents were assured defeat because they faced fellow board members.[3][4]
Candidates backed by the Wisconsin AFL-CIO won seven of the board's nine seats in 2016. Michelle Duchow in District 1 was not endorsed due to her unopposed race and District 9 winner Robert Wittke was endorsed by The Journal Times as a candidate who would stand up to unions.
District 1 candidate Michelle Duchow was the only unopposed candidate in the race. Dennis Wiser defeated fellow incumbent John Koetz in District 2, while incumbent Michael Frontier ousted fellow board member Pamala Handrow in District 3. Julie McKenna defeated Kim Plache to take the District 4 seat. Challenger Steven Hooper defeated incumbent Chuck Goodremote for the District 5 seat. Newcomer Matthew Hanser narrowly defeated board president Melvin Hargrove in District 8. Incumbent Don Nielsen finished first in the District 7 race against challenger Brian O'Connell. Nielsen and O'Connell defeated Adrienne Moore in the primary. Three newcomers were guaranteed to join the board after this election with no incumbents running in Districts 1, 6 and 9. John Heckenlively defeated Jim Venturini for the District 6 seat, while Robert Wittke defeated Kurt Squire in District 9.[4] Ernest Ni'A was defeated by Heckenlively and Venturini in the District 6 primary. Bryn Biemeck was removed from the ballot in District 6 following a Wisconsin Government Accountability Board appeal by the Racine Education Association.[5]
Results
| Racine Unified School District, District 6 Special Election, 2-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 John Heckenlively |
52.47% | 923 |
| Jim Venturini | 47.53% | 836 |
| Total Votes | 1,759 | |
| Source: Racine Unified School District, "Racine Board of Education Official Election Results," accessed June 15, 2016 | ||
| Racine Unified School District, District 6 Special Primary Election, 2-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| John Heckenlively |
40.28% | 201 |
| Jim Venturini |
32.67% | 163 |
| Ernest Ni'A | 25.85% | 129 |
| Write-in votes | 1.2% | 6 |
| Total Votes (100) | 499 | |
| Source: Racine County Elections, "4th Unofficial Election Results 02-16-2016," accessed February 16, 2016 | ||
Funding
Venturini reported no contributions or expenditures to the Racine Unified School District Clerk for School Board Elections as of February 15, 2016.[6] He filed as exempt from filing campaign finance reports when he filed for his candidacy.
Endorsements
Venturini received the endorsement of The Journal Times prior to the general election.[7]
Campaign themes
2016
Venturini provided the following responses to questions about the 2016 election to The Journal Times:
| “ |
Last year, the School Board was divided for months on the district’s employee handbook. What role should administrators, unions and the board have in future handbook changes? As any good employer would, the administration should be willing to solicit input from the teachers to improve student outcomes and have a productive and engaged workforce. However, ultimately the buck stops with the superintendent. It is imperative that she be allowed to bring changes to the board, for a healthy discussion, that she believes are necessary to drive improved outcomes. The board needs to be engaged in that process, but not an obstacle to change, when change will improve student outcomes. The district recently entered into a tentative agreement to buy the Sturtevant Sportsplex for $5.2 million, and the district is studying how to use and pay for the complex before the board’s May 10 deadline to approve the deal. If you are elected, under what conditions would you support the district buying the Sportsplex? I don’t know the behind-the-scenes discussion, but my initial reaction would be to oppose the purchase. Obviously that could change upon receiving more facts, but I don’t believe the district has communicated a clear plan for this site. My support for the purchase would be contingent on a clear plan for the site that doesn’t add any additional costs to the tax levy. As the district implements block scheduling in high schools next year in preparation for new career academies, some have criticized the district for moving ahead on the change too fast, most notably employee unions. Should the district go ahead with block scheduling next year? Why or why not? Yes, since this concept will better prepare students for college or a career, and it will provide students with hands on, experiential learning opportunities. This will allow students to see a real-world relevancy to what they are learning, which leads to improved engagement. Since block scheduling is a key component to (the academy) model, we need to act swiftly. While RUSD has shown improvement over the last couple of years, it’s not where our community needs it to be performing. There is no reason to delay implementing these changes, but it’s important to communicate with and adequately train the teachers. Over the last year, the villages of Caledonia, Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant have been weighing whether to fund a study of leaving the Racine Unified School District. Would you support these communities breaking away from Unified? Why or why not? I believe this split could be detrimental to the Greater Racine (east of Interstate 94) community. My first preference would be to fix and improve the current district. Let’s work to fix the existing system, before we decide to create what could be several new districts. In business, you can find efficiencies and improvements through consolidation and that’s what this model was built on. By putting good and competent people in leadership positions, I believe we can make this district a success. If we don’t make the necessary improvements over the next several years then we can look at all options. If elected, what is the most pressing change you would push for the district to make? Of course this is a difficult question to answer since there are a number of important issues. With that said, the most pressing change is working united. I believe we have a wonderful city with great potential considering our demographics, but we are struggling to draw new business partially because of our education system. We need to work together to achieve what is good for the whole and not individuals or special interests groups. By doing this we can reach the ultimate goal of improving our schools and providing a level of education to our children which they deserve. |
” |
| —Jim Venturini (2016), [9] | ||
Recent news
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedlist - ↑ LinkedIn, "Jim Venturini, AIS, AAI, CAWC," accessed January 26, 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namednewmap - ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Journal Times, "Election filings, Racine County school boards," January 6, 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbiemeck - ↑ Nick Katers, "Email exchange with Patricia Meyer," February 12, 2016]
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Journal Times editorial: Journal Times endorses eight candidates for Racine Unified School Board," April 3, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Three newcomers vie for 6th District seat on Unified School Board," February 13, 2016
