Three candidates chase Kent School Board seat | Election 2013

Three candidates are running to replace Tim Clark for Position No. 5 on the Kent School Board.

Maya Vengadasalam, Carmen Goers and Bruce Elliott will clash in the Aug. 6 primary election with the top two vote getters moving on to the Nov. 5 general election for the four-year term. Clark is running for Kent mayor against incumbent Suzette Cooke.

King County Elections will mail primary ballots on July 17 to be returned by Aug. 6.

School Board member Agda Burchard is running unopposed for the Position No. 4 seat. School board positions are unpaid.

Vengadasalam, a 22-year resident of Kent, will host a campaign kickoff from 6-8 p.m. Friday, June 28 at Kona Kai Coffee, 124 Fourth Ave. S. in downtown Kent across from City Hall.

Vengadasalam has volunteered for more than 10 years at Kent schools, according to her media release.

“Serving my community has been an important priority all my life,” Vengadasalam said. “It is important for our children to grow up understanding the potential they hold, and the promise of a bright future.

“Teaching the kids the importance of developing good work habits, staying in school and lifting young people up to believe that they can accomplish their dreams through hard work, a good education and community support – this is the essence of why I’m running for the Kent School Board.”

Vengadasalam emphasized communication as the key to accomplishing tasks.

“I believe in collaborating and building solid relationships with stakeholders to effectively link and improve policies, processes, and practices,” she said.

Vengadasalam works as a business and community affairs consultant and is a former marketing and internet solutions director at DeviMedia. Her current volunteer experience includes membership on The Seattle Foundation Small Grants Funds Advisory Team, City of Kent Mayor’s Advisory Team, and Community Center for Education Results.

Goers, who has lived in Kent for 13 years, believes she can apply the experience as the mother of three girls who went through the Kent school system to the district.

“What I’ve noticed is a repetition of challenges and a circular approach to addressing concerns of the students and parents,” Goers said. “I want to apply a systematic business approach to addressing the challenges facing the district and positioning our students as life-long learners and accomplished contributors to society.

“As the fourth largest school district in the state, Kent has an opportunity and an obligation to impact a great number of our future leaders. Forward thinking from elementary through high school with clear, measurable goals outlined in the strategic plan is the first step in positioning the district for ongoing sustainable growth.”

Goers is an assistant vice-president and senior relationship manager with a community bank. She resides on the East Hill with her husband Allan. Her adult daughters all reside in Kent as well.

Goers had a kickoff campaign June 8 at a gathering hosted by Paul and Debbie Willis.

Elliott was raised in Renton and has lived in Kent since 1978. He is a Kent cattle and crop grower and a board member of the King-Pierce Farm Bureau.

“I am a candidate because I want to help insure that Kent schools continue to provide a quality education to our children,” Elliott said in his candidate statement. “I am not convinced that administrative decisions like increased short days are the best for our students. We must focus the bulk of our resources in the classroom, where learning occurs.

“We need to maintain local control of this process, not hand it over to Washington, D.C. The duty of our schools is to teach our children core subjects and help them gain practical life skills. The future of our work force and a prosperous community depends on this. We face modern challenges, but that is no excuse to fail in providing this generation with the educational foundation they need.”

Elliott and his wife raised two children in the Kent school system, both graduates of Kent-Meridian High School.