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Kenneth Gezelius
Kenneth Gezelius was a candidate for at-large representative on the Socorro Independent School District Board of Trustees in Texas. He lost in the general election on May 9, 2015.
Elections
2015
Opposition
Three of the seven seats on the Socorro ISD Board of Trustees were up for election on May 9, 2015. District 1 incumbent Hector Gonzalez won re-election unopposed. The two at-large incumbents, Antonio Ayub and Michael Najera, faced challengers Frank Del Toro and Kenneth Gezelius. Both incumbents won re-election.[1]
Results
| Socorro Independent School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Michael Najera Incumbent |
40.1% | 2,938 | |
| Nonpartisan | Antonio Ayub Incumbent |
30% | 2,196 | |
| Nonpartisan | Frank Del Toro | 19.9% | 1,460 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kenneth Gezelius | 10% | 729 | |
| Total Votes | 7,323 | |||
| Source: El Paso County Elections, "Final Election Results," accessed May 26, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Gezelius reported no contributions or expenditures to the Texas Ethics Commission as of April 9, 2015.[2] The next filing deadline was May 1, 2015.
Endorsements
Gezelius received no official endorsements as of April 2, 2015.
Campaign themes
2015
Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce questionnaire
Gezelius participated in a candidate questionnaire from the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce. The questions and his responses are below:
| “ | 1. What experiences in leadership do you have that qualify you to serve as a school trustee?
US Army – Retired in 1987 at the rank of Command Sergeant Major. Combat experience in the Korean DMZ and Vietnam. Awarded Combat and Expert Infantryman’s Badge, Bronze Star and many other military awards. Contract employee with Brown & Root in nearlySaudi Arabia, Somalia and Rwanda. Small business owner in El Paso (Chinese Café in the Northeast EP) EPISD Budget Review Committee. 2. What is motivating you to run for a school board trustee seat? I have the time to devote full-time to this positon. 3. Describe the impact you expect to make on the strategic direction of the school board and how does your specific personal experience support that expectation? SISD needs to learn from the problems being experience by YISD and EPISD. I can study, analyse and learn from others. The Board must be proactive and future oriented. I have the education and experience to do the job. 4. Trustees, as elected by specific district, must act and govern for the entire school district, not just advocate for the schools within their particular geography. Describe a time when you had to balance potentially conflicting priorities with multiple stakeholders, and how did you determine how to allocate resources and investment to meet the needs of all? EPISD Budget Review Committee 5. The role and responsibility of a Trustee is governance, oversight, and setting policy. Tell us about your experience in honoring the scope of responsibility in a past role? How did you make sure you did not cross over into the tactical execution of another person’s responsibility in the organization? Be specific in your response. I served on the subcommittee that crafted EPISD’s 2007 Bond issue. I worked against school board members who lobbied for individual projects to gain votes. One of those board members is now in jail. I was also lobbied by then Superintendent Lorenzo Garcia. He made sure I no longer served on the Budget Committee. 6. Attracting and retaining top talented educators is critical to the success of a healthy school district. This includes supporting a school district-created ‘Human Capital Strategy’ designed to attract and retain top-notch quality reading, math, and science educators to build strong STEM programs. Describe your past experience as a leader supporting the broad strategy of identifying, selecting, and retaining top talent. Labor organizations must be enlisted to support these programs. Merit must take precedence over longevity. 7. Financial management and investment strategy is an important component of Trustee capability. Describe your experience in identifying opportunities for superior financial performance. In your response please include your outlook on incremental expense versus incremental investment, and how you differentiate between the two. I have two Masters degrees, a Masters of Science in Business, and an MBA. Investment should support our expenses which must be responsible. 8. There are a number of training tools available to school board trustees, not all of which are required. Specifically describe your past utilization of available versus required training materials for a new role that you occupied. How did you decide to commit your time and explore new means and methods to obtain valued skills? I have supported my wife who runs our business. I advise but do not interfere with her decisions which would cause confusion among our employees. 9. If elected, would you have any potential conflicts of interest that you are aware of that would impair your ability to serve as a school board trustee? Please explain. None. I have no business relations with SISD, 10. If elected a school board trustee, will you uphold the following ethical standards? (Click here to see TASB School Board Code of Ethics) Of course, this should be the goal of all trustees. 11. Do you have other remarks you would like to share about your candidacy? I have created a separate website KenG4SISD@aol.com and will answer all questions submitted. If elected to the Board I will use this website to answer any and all questions and comments submitted. I do not plan to use mail, door hangars or signs. I thank for publishing this information.[3] |
” |
| —Kenneth Gezelius (2015)[4] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kenneth Gezelius Socorro Independent School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Socorro Independent School District, Texas
- Socorro Independent School District elections (2015)
- Decreased success for school board incumbents in Texas; 1/3 defeated in largest districts (May 11, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Lupe Alvarez, Executive Assistant, Office of the Superintendent, Socorro ISD," March 3, 2015
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "Search Campaign Finance Reports," accessed April 10, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, "2015 El Paso County Election Voter's Guide," accessed April 2, 2015
