Marcelo Garcia
Marcelo Garcia ran for election to the Neenah Joint School District Board of Education At-large in Wisconsin. Garcia lost in the general election on April 3, 2018.
Biography
Garcia co-founded Casa Hispana, a nonprofit referral center. He has served as a board member and as the president of Casa Hispana and Madison Community Cooperatives. He is also the former president of AFSCME-Chapter 15. Garcia has volunteered in the Town of Menasha Parks and Recreation Department, the Salvation Army Christmas gift program and the Neenah Soccer Club. He has also served on the Post Crescent Editorial Board as a community member and a community columnist.[1]
Elections
2018
Three of the nine seats on the Neenah Joint School District Board of Education in Wisconsin were up for at-large general election on April 3, 2018. Incumbent John Van Meter did not file for re-election, leaving one open seat. Incumbents Betsy Ellenberger and John R. Lehman faced candidates Brian Epley, Marcelo Garcia, Tom Hanby, and Carol Hollar-Zwick. Ellenberger won another term, but Lehman was defeated, coming in fourth place. Hollar-Zwick and Epley won the other two seats on the board.[2][3]
General election
General election for Neenah Joint School District Board of Education At-large (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Neenah Joint School District Board of Education At-large on April 3, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Carol Hollar-Zwick (Nonpartisan) | 19.9 | 2,931 |
| ✔ | Brian Epley (Nonpartisan) | 18.4 | 2,706 | |
| ✔ |  | Betsy Ellenberger (Nonpartisan) | 18.2 | 2,685 |
 | John R. Lehman (Nonpartisan) | 17.2 | 2,534 | |
| Marcelo Garcia (Nonpartisan) | 14.4 | 2,119 | ||
| Tom Hanby (Nonpartisan) | 11.8 | 1,742 | ||
| Total votes: 14,717 | |||
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2017
Three seats on the Neenah Joint School District school board were up for at-large general election on April 4, 2017. In their bids for re-election, board incumbents Margaret Murphy, Michelle Swardenski, and Scott Thompson defeated challengers Marcelo Garcia, Tom Hanby, and Peter Kaul.[4][5]
Results
| Neenah Joint School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Michelle Swardenski Incumbent |
21.37% | 1,931 |
| Margaret Murphy Incumbent |
19.15% | 1,731 |
| Scott Thompson Incumbent |
17.42% | 1,574 |
| Peter Kaul | 15.43% | 1,395 |
| Marcelo Garcia | 14.03% | 1,268 |
| Tom Hanby | 12.60% | 1,139 |
| Total Votes | 9,038 | |
| Source: Elisabeth Moore, "Email correspondence with Diane Haug, Executive Assistant to the District Administrator and Board of Education Secretary/Deputy Clerk," May 24, 2017 | ||
Funding
All candidates in this election filed an exemption from reporting campaign contributions or expenditures, according to the Neenah Joint School District.[6]
All school board candidates in Wisconsin were required to file a campaign registration statement with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission after qualifying as candidates. This statement declares their candidacy to the county clerk's office and allows them to claim exemption from reporting campaign contributions and expenditures. Candidates were only required to report campaign contributions and expenditures if they did one or both of the following:[7]
- Accepted contributions, made disbursements, or incurred debt in excess of $2,000 during the calendar year
- Accepted more than $100 from a single source during the calendar year, barring contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
There were three campaign finance report deadlines in 2017:
- The pre-primary report was due February 13, 2017,
- The pre-election report was due March 27, 2017, and
- The post-election report was due July 15, 2017.[8]
Candidates who filed before January 1, 2017, also had to file a continuing campaign finance report on January 16, 2017.[9]
2016
Three of the nine seats on the Neenah Joint School District school board were up for general election on April 5, 2016. The seats of Jean Maurice Boyer, Christopher Kunz, and Jeff Spoehr were up for election. A total of seven candidates filed for the seats. Because there were over twice as many candidates as members to be elected, a primary election was held on February 16, 2016.[10] All three incumbents filed for re-election and were joined by four newcomers in the primary race: Marlys Brehm, Tom Hanby, Lauri Asbury, and Marcelo Garcia.[11] Garcia lost the primary election but the remaining six candidates advanced to the general. Boyer and Kunz secured their bids for re-election, and Asbury was successful in winning the remaining seat on the board.
Results
| Neenah Joint School District, At-Large Primary Election, 3-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Lauri Asbury |
22.15% | 6,894 |
| Jean Maurice Boyer Incumbent |
17.22% | 5,360 |
| Christopher Kunz Incumbent |
16.92% | 5,265 |
| Jeff Spoehr Incumbent |
15.94% | 4,962 |
| Marlys Brehm |
13.79% | 4,293 |
| Tom Hanby |
11.39% | 3,546 |
| Marcelo Garcia | 2.46% | 765 |
| Write-in votes | 0.12% | 37 |
| Total Votes (100) | 31,122 | |
| Source: Elisabeth Cervantes, "Email communication with Diane Haug," March 11, 2016 | ||
Campaign themes
2018
The Appleton Post Crescent surveyed the school board candidates. According to the Crescent, responses were edited for clarity and length. Below are Garcia's responses:[12]
Why are you running for office?
| “ |
I am running for school board to continue my service to the community. I want to bring a new perspective to the board as an advocate for teachers and students. As a parent and constituent of the Neenah School District, I want to bring more awareness to the community about our district and open more lines of communication among the administration, the board, teachers, students and the community at-large. Ever since moving to this area, I have been an active member in the community. I have worked for the Neenah and Menasha school districts as an English Learning Language paraprofessional. I volunteered at Fox Valley Literacy Coalition as an English tutor. I have volunteered with Fox Crossing Parks and Recreatopm/ For the last few years I have been a volunteer coach with Neenah Soccer Club. In 2006, I co-founded Casa Hispana, a nonprofit organization serving the Hispanic community in the area.[13] |
” |
| —Marcelo Garcia[12] | ||
What do you think are the key issues facing the community?
| “ |
Every area of our society is under attack by national and state policies. Public education is no exception. In Wisconsin, the attack began with Act 10. Under the current administration at the federal level, the attack has spread nationwide. Public education in Wisconsin continues to face budgeting problems. Revenue for public education has been diminished in almost every state budget under Gov. Scott Walker. To add insult to injury, the voucher program was expanded and with this more taxpayer money has been diverted from public to private education. As for the Neenah Joint School District, one of the challenges facing the district appears to be a disconnection between the administration and teaching staff. Bringing administrators and teachers together to find ways to improve the district’s morale and trust could be a starting point. The district can offer a good work atmosphere where teachers are encouraged to collaborate with each other, be treated with professionalism and have a clear written policy on how the district evaluates its teachers. Making diversity a priority can begin to pave the way to a more diverse workforce.[13] |
” |
| —Marcelo Garcia[12] | ||
What do you hope to accomplish, if elected?
| “ |
School boards and school administrators need to put more pressure to limit, or better yet, decrease the number of vouchers being issued so a student can attend a private school. At the same time, we need to demand that private schools that receive vouchers are held to the same standards as public schools. Our school board should meet with local and state elected officials to discuss the impact the voucher program is having on public education. The gap between our highest- and lowest-achieving students should be decreased and minimized. A small gap is a sign of a good school district that wants every student to succeed and institutes policies to make that happen. When elected, I would encourage everyone including teachers, students, parents and administrators to openly communicate with the board. Our goal should be to welcome all perspectives, use all the educational tools in the toolbox to get at higher literacy rates and better readers and writers in our district. There are many curricula that can help those students who need to learn reading and writing phonetically. The tools are out there — we just need to use them.[13] |
” |
| —Marcelo Garcia[12] | ||
See also
- Neenah Joint School District, Wisconsin
- Neenah Joint School District elections (2018)
- Neenah Joint School District elections (2017)
- Neenah Joint School District elections (2016)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Post Crescent, "Q&A with Neenah Board of Education candidates," February 14, 2016
- ↑ Post-Crescent, "Fox Cities candidates gear up for spring elections," January 3, 2018
- ↑ Winnebago County, Wisconsin, "Election Summary Report," April 3, 2018
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Diane Huang, Executive Assistant to the District Administrator," January 4, 2017
- ↑ Winnebago County Clerk, "Election Summary Report: April 04, 2017," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Diane Haug, Executive Assistant to the District Administrator and Board of Education Secretary/Deputy Clerk," March 29, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "11.0104 Reporting exemptions: limited activity," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Filing Deadlines and Reporting Periods," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Checklist," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "Election of School Board Members," accessed January 11, 2016
- ↑ Elisabeth Cervantes, "Email communication with Diane Haug, Executive Assistant to the District Administrator and Board of Education Secretary/Deputy Clerk," January 11, 2016
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Appleton Post Crescent, "Neenah School Board candidates talk facilities, student achievement," March 24, 2018
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Neenah Joint School District elections in 2018 | |
| Winnebago County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 3, 2018 |
| Candidates: | At-Large: Incumbent, Betsy Ellenberger • Incumbent, John R. Lehman • Brian Epley • Marcelo Garcia • Tom Hanby • Carol Hollar-Zwick |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
| Neenah Joint School District elections in 2017 | |
| Winnebago County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-Large: Incumbent, Margaret Murphy • Incumbent, Michelle Swardenski • Incumbent, Scott Thompson • Marcelo Garcia • Tom Hanby • Peter Kaul |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
