I decided to run for the 2-year partial-term seat on the BHSD Board of Education for three main reasons:
1. The next two years will be difficult for the BHSD, and disenfranchised voters and taxpayers need a "voice" on the board. The new high school MUST be completed on time, and within budget. At this time, we have no fiscal conservatives on our board of education; not one is capable of saying "no" to any thing or any expense. I will bring needed financial constraint to our board table.
2. Six year terms are an affront to taxpayers and voters. The term is too long. The board should have voted to reinstate 4-year terms retroactively. If we had 4-year terms, taxpayers would not currently be represented by two appointees who circumvented the election process, Herner and Berndt. Trustees should be elected, not appointed, PERIOD.
3. I do not consider either of the two "appointees" who have decided to run for election to be competent, and neither has any history or interest in representing anyone who does not agree with them. Both managed to beat-out such well-informed and intelligent long-term public school activists as John Roach and Chris Fellin. Personnally, I was so offended by the application for the appointment that I returned my copy to Ingrid Day (board president!) and told her to create an application that would lead to the selection of a competent Trustee. I refused to participate in what I considered to be a farce.
The application was inadequate, and it is no wonder that Ingrid's neighbor on Kellen Lane (Herner) and a long-retired public school teacher, beholden to the MEA for a generous retirement, were selected over people who have earned the respect of thousands of BHSD taxpayers and voters.
I see that Rob Herner has plenty of money to spend on a campaign designed to create familiarity with his NAME. Apparently, he has little to offer besides that. He does not write blogs; does not submit op-eds or letters to newspapers. My guess is that his wife is a close personal friend of Ingrid Day. They are neighbors.
We taxpayers know nearly nothing about Herner. In 10 years of school involvement, I had never seen him at a board meeting prior to his selection. He lives on Kellen Lane, and has one child at Andover. We do not know what he does for a living. We know nothing about his education. We know that he is a "yes" voter. He votes "yes" on everything. My guess is that Ingrid knows a lot about Herner, as his wife has told her what she wanted to know.
He'll vote YES. All the time.
Appointee Joan Berndt is a retired music teacher, who has referred to music as a "science." Music is not a science, it is an art. Art is wonderful.
Math and Science excellence are essential to compete in our global economy.
The BHSD has fallen behind in math and science achievement, and we need at least one Trustee who recognizes that fact. Our students deserve to have top-notch preparation in math and sciences, including algebra, calculus, biology, chemistry and physics. We need to understand the importance of academic achievement.
Funny, Ed Ford (trustee) once stated (during the appointee process) that anyone who has run for the board before should not be considered as an appointee. I figured he was referring to me. I wonder if Ed did his homework and learned that Joan Berndt ran for the board in the 1970s and was defeated.
Well, I'm Jenny Greenwell and I've run for the board 5 times. I worked in the schools as a substitute teacher. I went to college and had a great career. I've raised three daughters to adulthood. I've been married to the smartest person I have ever known for almost 37 years. I own a home in Bloomfield Township and pay my taxes. I do whatever I can to help my older brother, who is disabled, and has been since birth.
I've offered to serve my community as a smart and fiscally-responsible advocate for public education as a Trustee of the BHSD Board of Education.
Again.
If you would prefer to have an award-winning Math and Science program, rather than an award-winning corn maze and likely a private medical clinic for employees only (it's tabled, not killed, as it should have been) please vote for me on Nov. 6.
Thank you.
Your rants have become increasingly mean-spirited and filled with more and more outright fabrications. I suppose I should be grateful to you for letting it all hang out. I cannot imagine that anyone in their right mind would think you would be a good addition to our school board. You owe Ingrid Day, Joan Berndt, and Rob Herner apologies for the nonsense you write about them. I'm disgusted.
Don't kid yourself Neal, this isn't Mrs. Greenwell's closing argument.
He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from University of Detroit. He runs a business and technology consulting and investing business. For those who are Internet savvy, this information is available as follows: http://herner4board.com/ http://www.therehgroup.com/about-us/#rob-herner http://www.lwvoa.org/files/VG2012GeneralSchoolBloomfieldHills.pdf
vb (tr) 1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) to deprive (a person) of the right to vote or other rights of citizenship 2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) to deprive (a place) of the right to send representatives to an elected body
As a father of two in BHSD, and I know, on the behalf of many, many parents and grandparents, you have my deepest gratitude for your willingness to tolerate Jenny Greenwell's comments and continue to serve. Ms. Greenwell won't stop, of course, but I think she is making it impossible for any reasonable group or publication to take seriously again the "activists" who support her. That is what one can hope for; I would ask Patch, again, to reconsider its editorial policy but Ms. Weiner was right in her first comment above. I think we should be grateful that these sorts of comments are printed, documented, and preserved.
Please explain how your two year tenure on the BHSD Board of Education would result in an award-winning Math and Science program. What specific qualifications do you have that would allow you to accomplish this better than your opponents, who are a teacher and a technologist, respectively. Thank you.
Mrs. Greenwell was only on the board for one year (July 2004 - June 2005). She lost her bid to be relected in 2005. She and her husband lost their bids to be elected in 2007. She lost her bid as a write-in candidate in 2010 along with Mrs. Guidone and Mr. Murdy. I find it strange that Mrs. Guidone was thought a good candidate back in 2010 because of her experience in teaching. Why should Joan Berndt be raked over the coals now because she has a similar background? Also I frankly have always been puzzled by a husband and wife team trying to be elected to the same board. That is when I first noticed the Greenwells and thought I didn't like the idea of Hillary Clinton being our second president, why would I knowingly vote in a married couple. That is why I didn't vote for them back in 2007 but I honestly have to say that I really didn't know who Mrs. Greenwell was back then.
Music is also part mathematics. Music exists in time. It has to have a method to indicate to the composer and the performer how long in time each tone will sound. This is where notation comes in. Notation (whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, etc) are mathematically related to each other: kids in beginning instrument classes understand fractions by learning about notation and time signatures better than kids who never have that opportunity. But overall, music is primarily an art form, because math and science are subservient to the organized sounds that speak to our emotions and lift our spirits.