Wendy Garrity
Wendy Garrity was a candidate for Ward 7 representative on the Manchester Board of School Committee in New Hampshire. Garrity won the primary election on September 15, 2015. The top two vote recipients advanced to the general election on November 3, 2015. Wendy Garrity lost the general election on November 3, 2015.
Garrity is affiliated with the Democratic Party, but the board and board elections are officially nonpartisan.
Biography
Wendy Garrity resides in Manchester, New Hampshire, and graduated from Manchester Memorial High School in 1999. Garrity has served as the Ward 7 Moderator in Manchester.[1][2] She is affiliated with Manchester Mental Health and the Granite State Federation for Families.[3]
Elections
2015
Opposition
The election in Manchester featured 14 of the 15 seats on the board up for general election on November 3, 2015. The last seat, held by Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas at the time of the election, was elected separately on the ballot. A primary election was held on September 15, 2015, to narrow down the number of candidates to two per seat in each race for the general election. Wards 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 12 held primary elections.
In the Ward 7 race, incumbent Ross Terrio defeated challenger Wendy Garrity for the seat. Fellow challenger Maria Brown lost in the primary election.
Nine board members faced competition in their re-election bids, while another three ran unopposed and won re-election to their seats. The elections in wards 4 and 5 did not feature any incumbents. Neither Ward 4 member Amy L. Bradley nor Ward 5 member Ted Rokas filed for re-election.
Several rematches from the 2013 election took place, including Ward 2 member Debra G. Langton and challenger Sarah L. Browning, Ward 6 member Dan Bergeron and challenger Bill Hughen, and Ward 12 member Constance Van Houten and challenger Christine Duffley. The Ward 12 race also featured former board member Roger Beauchamp.
Results
General election
| Manchester School District, Ward 7, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ross Terrio Incumbent |
52.0% | 703 |
| Wendy Garrity | 47.7% | 645 |
| Write-in votes | 0.3% | 4 |
| Total Votes | 1,352 | |
| Source: Manchester City Clerk, "Official Results," accessed November 4, 2015 | ||
Primary election
| Manchester School District, Ward 7, Primary Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Ross Terrio Incumbent |
44.7% | 368 |
| Wendy Garrity |
35.6% | 293 |
| Maria Brown | 19.3% | 159 |
| Write-in votes | 0.49% | 4 |
| Total Votes | 824 | |
| Source: Manchester City Clerk, "Official Results," accessed November 4, 2015 | ||
Funding
Garrity reported $696.00 in contributions and $696.00 in expenditures to the Manchester City Clerk, which left her campaign with no cash on hand during the election.[4]
Endorsements
Garrity received endorsements from New Hampshire House of Representatives District Hillsborough 14 state representatives Mary Heath (D) and Mary C. Freitas (D), as well as former Manchester Board of School Committee member Dave Gelinas.[5]
Campaign themes
2015
Candidate website
Garrity published the following statement on her campaign website:
| “ | Promoting Common Sense
|
” |
| —Wendy Garrity campaign website (2015)[7] | ||
She issued the following statement regarding her bid for office:
| “ | My name is Wendy Garrity, and I am running for School Board in Ward 7. I am proud to have the support and endorsements of former Ward 7 school board member and Vice Chairman of the school board Dave Gelinas and State Representative Mary Freitas. You may ask why I am running the answer is simple. I believe that it is time we advocate feverishly for Accountability, Better Schools, and a stronger Community. This is about common sense not politics
A bit about me I am a lifelong resident of the greater Manchester Area. I have served as the ward 7 Moderator for the last ten years. I have 2 children who attended the Manchester School system. I have been an effective advocate and voice for children and families for over 20 years. I have coordinated support for and wrote grants for school programs through systems of care. I am a devoted, experienced team player who will be a strong and energetic voice for you. Most importantly though I am a parent, mother, friend, leader and listener. As I see it the role of school board is to provide direction and leadership and create policies that maximize our children’s education. It should challenge staff, parents and students alike to reach a higher level. I commend and thank all current school board members for their time and service to our community. However, I believe that it is time for some change in the area of our children’s education. I also believe the way to start this moving forward is for you the citizens of Manchester to take a stand and make changes that will bring new faces and fresh ideas to the school board. To do this I will bring with me my enthusiasm time and commitment to the school system within our city. I feel that while some progress has been made it is limited. My hope is to bring education back to the forefront of the issues. My goal is to see that academics are made a priority, rather than social agendas, attitudes, and politics. I believe that our children deserve this and much more. I think there are workable solutions to our current needs of enhancing our children’s learning experiences and test scores without causing additional burden to our taxpayers or our teachers. Being effective is “doing the right things” while being efficient means “doing things right” Stated another way “Doing the right things” is the ability to identify critical issues and opportunities that can change and develop an organization for the better- strategies that energize and maximize a strategic plan. “Doing things right” is important for maintaining and sustaining that growth. As a member of the school board I will work to make our education system more effective and efficient. In closing I fully believe I have the time, energy, experience, and devotion which are needed on our school board. Please always remember that the quality of education today will reflect our student’s opportunities for tomorrow.[6] |
” |
| —Wendy Garrity (2015), [3] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Wendy Garrity' 'Manchester School District'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "Wendy Garrity for School Board Ward 7," August 11, 2015
- ↑ New Hampshire Union Leader, "Candidates running in contested Manchester school board, aldermen races," September 13, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Information submitted through Ballotpedia's biographical submission form on September 20, 2015
- ↑ Manchester City Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports Filed by Candidate," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Wendy Garrity for School Board Ward 7," accessed October 29, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Facebook, "Wendy Garrity for School Board Ward 7's Photos," accessed September 15, 2015
