Mark Zydanowicz
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Mark Zydanowicz is an at-large Republican member of the West Hartford Public Schools Board of Education in Connecticut. He won a new term on the board in the general election on November 3, 2015.
Zydanowicz previously served on the Zoning Board of Appeal and as a member of the West Hartford Republican Town Committee.[1] He was also an unsuccessful 2014 Republican candidate for District 19 of the Connecticut House of Representatives.
Biography
Zydanowicz works in the management of Guida's Dairy, a dairy previously owned by his family. He has also worked as a financial underwriter for United Health Care. Since 1991, Zydanowicz has served in the Connecticut Army National Guard. He joined as a private and currently serves in the rank of major. He was awarded the Bronze Start and Combat Action Badge in 2007 for his service in Iraq. He earned a B.S. in marketing from Central Connecticut State university. Through military training, he has earned the title of military engineer.[2]
Elections
2015
Opposition
Four of the seven seats on the West Hartford Board of Education were up for election on November 3, 2015. Three of the at-large seats were up for general election in 2015. The fourth seat was up for special election, following the resignation of incumbent Jillian Gilchrest (D). In February 2015, she left the board to become a senior policy analyst at the Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women. Cheryl Greenberg (D) was appointed to fill the vacancy until the election was held.[3]
Incumbent Mark Zydanowicz (R) was nominated as the sole Republican candidate for the board in 2015.[4] The Democrats, meanwhile, nominated newcomers Carol Anderson-Blanks and Dave Pauluk for the regular four-year terms and nominated the recently appointed Greenberg for the two-year term.[5][6] The four candidates won the election without opposition.
Results
| West Hartford Public Schools, At-Large (4-year terms), General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Carol Anderson-Blanks |
38.2% | 7,201 | |
| Democratic | Dave Pauluk |
37.1% | 6,995 | |
| Republican | Mark Zydanowicz Incumbent |
24.8% | 4,673 | |
| Total Votes | 18,869 | |||
| Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Prescribed Form for Return of Votes Cast At A Municipal Election," accessed November 5, 2015 | ||||
Funding
The West Hartford Town Clerk's office does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Endorsements
Zydanowicz received no official endorsements in this election.
2014
Elections for the Connecticut House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on August 12, 2014, and a general election on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 10, 2014. Incumbent Brian Becker was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Mark Zydanowicz was unopposed in the Republican primary. Becker defeated Zydanowicz in the general election.[7][8]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Brian Becker Incumbent |
57.3% | 6,147 | |
| Republican | Mark Zydanowicz | 42.7% | 4,580 | |
| Total Votes | 10,727 | |||
Campaign themes
2015
Zydanowicz provided the following answers to questions from We-Ha.com. The website's questions are in bold text, and Zydanowicz's answers are in plain text.
| “ | Why are you running for office? I believe education is the building blocks of our society’s foundation. With three children in the school system, I wanted to ensure our kids are provided an environment to succeed in.
What issue(s) are your primary area of focus? Our school system excels in many polls, however, we cannot rest on our laurels. One area of focus, is our test scores, albeit not the only value, I’ll closely monitor our new test results, it’s critical we manage the results and be flexible enough to adjust curriculum. However, having said that, West Hartford has been ahead of the curve on all levels of curriculum development, both previously and how it relates specifically to common core. The fact is we have such a talented administrative team, other schools systems and even the state has viewed us as subject matter experts for Common Core Standards curriculum. Our curriculum has been preparing our students for years created around rigorous curriculum prior to any Common Core Standards. Recent test results confirms our foundational work resulted in 5% higher than previous comparisons. Curriculum development in the West Hartford will continue to be a dynamic process that constantly evolving in continuous improvement model. What do you feel is the biggest issue facing West Hartford today? As a self-funded plan, our health care claims are unpredictable which significantly effects our budget. I feel a detailed forensics study by an outside firm is prudent, not only look at potential savings but options as well. For example, level funding is a simple, stable, secure way to self-fund and is a unique type of self-funding. In this structure, West Hartford would pay a fixed monthly amount to cover the costs of administration, stop-loss and claims funding. The administrator uses the money as needed to pay claims. If there’s an overage at the end of the plan year, a check to the group to reimburse any unused money. It eliminates unforeseen spikes, transferring some of the risk common in municipalities. What do you feel differentiates you from other candidates also running for this position? I’ve said it many times before, but I feel it’s critical for the board members to have children in the school system. With kids in the system, every day you get immediate feedback, first when you sit down and talk about how your child’s day went and then again when helping and going over their homework. It’s the most basic form but so important not only for your children but to get feedback on the quality of education they’re receiving daily.[9] |
” |
| —Mark Zydanowicz, We-Ha.com's candidate questionnaire, (2015)[1] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Mark Zydanowicz' 'West Hartford Public Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- West Hartford Public Schools, Connecticut
- West Hartford Public Schools elections (2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
- Connecticut House of Representatives
- Connecticut House of Representatives District 19
- Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2014
- Connecticut State Legislature
External links
- West Hartford Public Schools
- Office website
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Mark Zydanowicz on Facebook
- LinkedIn page
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 We-Ha.com, "Meet the Candidate: Mark Zydanowicz," October 20, 2015
- ↑ West Hartford Public Schools, "Mark Zydanowicz," accessed October 26, 2015
- ↑ We-Ha, "Dr. Cheryl Greenberg Appointed to West Hartford Board of Education," May 5, 2015
- ↑ We-Ha, "West Hartford Republican Town Committee Nominates Candidates," July 24, 2015
- ↑ We-Ha, "West Hartford Democrats Endorse Candidates for Fall Election," July 29, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondance with West Hartford Town/Council Clerk Essie S. Labrot," August 19, 2015
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Official primary and general election results," accessed November 26, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
