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Sergio Rodriguez (New York)
Sergio Rodriguez was a candidate for an at-large seat on the Buffalo school board in New York. He lost the general election on May 6, 2014 to incumbent Barbara Seals Nevergold and challengers Larry Quinn and Patricia B. Pierce. Rodriguez also ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate in the Buffalo mayoral election in 2013.[1]
Biography
Sergio Rodriguez is a resident of Buffalo, New York. Rodriguez was born in the Dominican Republic before his family moved to Long Island, New York, where he graduated from Walter G. O'Connell Copiague High School. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1998 and served until 2003, achieving the rank of Sergeant. After leaving the military, Rodriguez earned his associate degree in business from Medaille College, B.S. degree in business management from D'Youville College and M.A. degree in organizational leadership from Medaille College.[2]
From 2008 to 2010, he served as the deputy director of the Erie County Veterans Service Agency before leaving to take a position as the coordinator of the Office of Veterans and Military Affairs at Medaille College. Rodriguez serves as the president of the Los Tainos Senior Citizens Center and as a board member on the Hispanic Heritage Council of Western New York, Veterans Business Council of Western New York and the Boy Scouts of America Greater Niagara Frontier Council. He also founded the Luminant Digital Media LLC new media firm in 2012.[3]
Elections
2014
- See also: Buffalo Public Schools elections (2014)
Sergio Rodriguez lost to incumbent Barbara Seals Nevergold and newcomers Larry Quinn and Patricia B. Pierce for the three at-large seats in the general election on May 6, 2014. Candidates Bryon J. McIntyre and Daniel Rockwitz Reynolds were removed from the ballot after they did not meet the petition signature requirements.[4]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Larry Quinn |
16.1% | 8,806 | |
| Nonpartisan | Patricia B. Pierce |
14.7% | 8,061 | |
| Nonpartisan | Barbara Seals Nevergold Incumbent |
13.6% | 7,449 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bernie Tolbert | 11.5% | 6,298 | |
| Nonpartisan | John Licata Incumbent | 9% | 4,930 | |
| Nonpartisan | Samuel P. Davis | 7.9% | 4,334 | |
| Nonpartisan | Sergio Rodriguez | 6.3% | 3,447 | |
| Nonpartisan | Gizelle Stokes | 5.6% | 3,059 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ralph R. Hernandez | 5% | 2,733 | |
| Nonpartisan | Wendy Mistretta | 4.4% | 2,414 | |
| Nonpartisan | Stephon Wright | 2.3% | 1,242 | |
| Nonpartisan | Adrian Harris | 1.9% | 1,066 | |
| Nonpartisan | Stephen Buccilli | 1.7% | 936 | |
| Total Votes | 54,775 | |||
| Source: Erie County, NY - Board of Elections, "Election Results Archive," accessed June 11, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Rodriguez reported no contributions or expenditures to the Erie County Board of Elections. School board candidates in New York were not required to report their campaign contributions or expenditures if they did not exceed $500.00.[5]
Endorsements
Rodriguez did not receive any official endorsements for his campaign.
2013
In addition to serving as the Democratic nominee, Byron W. Brown ran on the Conservative, Independence and Working Families party tickets. Rodriguez ran on the Progressive party ticket as well as serving as the Republican nominee. The vote totals below combine all of the votes the candidates received on each party ticket into a single total.
| Buffalo Mayor, General Election, 4-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Byron W. Brown Incumbent |
70.9% | 26,120 | |
| Republican | Sergio Rodriguez | 29.1% | 10,733 | |
| Total Votes | 36,853 | |||
| Source: Erie County, NY - Board of Elections, "Election Results Archive," accessed April 7, 2014 | ||||
Campaign themes
2014
In response to a survey published by The Buffalo News, Rodriguez answered several questions outlining his campaign themes, preferred education reforms and priorities.
| “ | Cite an example of a school program (here or elsewhere) that you think should be replicated in Buffalo: The Union City, N.J., school district serves as an example that early education and early intervention works. We need to create more resources with the state's help for early intervention and refocus our efforts to early education. Universal pre-k has shown to deliver results. Early education needs to be our mantra here in Buffalo. Describe two or three specific actions the district should take to help close the projected $50 million deficit for 2014-15: To reduce our $54 million annual transportation budget we can consider segmenting the Buffalo school district into 4 or 5 different sub-districts. This would create a hybrid system of school choice and neighborhood schools. Facility costs are astronomical. Buildings that are functioning well-below capacity should be looked at for opportunities where schools can co-locate - or whereby existing charters schools can lease out parts of the public school buildings and operate within the same structure. Eliminate the cosmetic surgery rider from the contract. [...] Evaluate Pamela Brown's performance as superintendent: Pros: Adoption of the new Code of Conduct. Leadership in adopting the Say Yes to Education's college enrollment program. Aggressive push for the adoption of the Parent Portal tool. Cons: Dr. Brown has increased the number of administrative staff in her department, while cutting staff from other departments. Dr. Brown has introduced last-minute proposals to the board without prior knowledge, thereby not giving the Board enough time to make an informed decision. Proposal to hire an additional Public Relations person to the tune of $115,000 annual salary. The hiring of two uncertified top-level administrators who, along with newly appointed Deputy Superintendent, all worked at the same consulting firm raise doubts about the hiring process.[6] |
” |
| —The Buffalo News survey (2014)[7] | ||
Rodriguez published a list of his priorities on his campaign website:
| “ | Attendance. My first objective is to increase school attendance and participation. I will propose reintroducing truant officers into our school system. Underage children can be seen walking the streets of Buffalo during school hours. Parental accountability is also a key component of this initiative.
In line with this is aggressive enforcement of the Code of Conduct, which was recently passed last year. The objective is to reduce suspensions and instead adopt a model where in-school suspensions is favored over sending a student home. Vocational Programs. We must enhance and increase our vocational programs offerings. Valuable skill trades will ensure that students will have something to fall back on should they not pursue college as a career path. I will also advocate for BOCES to be integrated within the Buffalo Schools System. Parental Involvement. The Parent Portal, while it has great potential, has been heavily underutilized. We need to increase communication with parents and give them a seat at the table - literally. We have a student representative who has a seat at the table at school board meetings, why not a parent representative?[6] |
” |
| —Sergio Rodriguez's campaign website (2014)[8] | ||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Sergio + Rodriguez + Buffalo + Public + Schools"
See also
External links
Additional reading
Footnotes
- ↑ The Buffalo News, "Brown wins third term as Buffalo mayor by a landslide," November 6, 2013
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Sergio Rodriguez," accessed April 7, 2014
- ↑ Sergio for School Board, "About Sergio Rodriguez," accessed April 7, 2014
- ↑ The Buffalo News, "Two knocked off Buffalo School Board ballot," April 23, 2014
- ↑ The Buffalo News, "School board financial disclosures," April 12, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Buffalo News, "Meet the candidates," accessed April 29, 2014
- ↑ Sergio for School Board, "Platform," accessed April 7, 2014
| 2014 Buffalo Public Schools Elections | |
| Buffalo, New York | |
| Election date: | May 6, 2014 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Barbara Seals Nevergold • Incumbent, John Licata • Adrian Harris • Wendy Mistretta • Larry Quinn • Sergio Rodriguez • Bernie Tolbert • Stephon Wright • Stephen Buccilli • Patricia B. Pierce • Ralph R. Hernandez • Samuel P. Davis • Gizelle Stokes |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
