Like Mike

I dunno if it’s just me, or if it’s this election, or the fact that I’ve been away for the past few weeks, but I’m feeling super uninspired by this election.  Maybe because the candidates for City Council are just so meh.  The only thing that leaves me with a cold dread is the possibility that Trish Spencer could be our next Mayor.   On the bright side though, she has been on her very best behavior at the School Board meetings, I imagine that after the election if she is unsuccessful in her bid for the Mayor’s seat she’ll revert to the old Trish Spencer that we all have come to know.   Interestingly enough at the last School Board meeting she voted “yes” to the designs for the Encinal pool remodel but yet voted no again and again to the mechanism that actually would pay for the remodels.  In fact, she touts her opposition to the complicated land exchange between the City and the School District as a reason why people should vote for her.   That is where the money comes from the pay for the renovations.   But typically Trish Spencer, vote for the easy stuff to say you “supported” something, but then not for the means to pay for it.  Which is so like a “fiscal conservative,” eh?

But anyway, I’ve decided against writing out profiles for the School Board candidates.  Call it apathy, whatever.   Solana Henneberry will likely win because 1) female,  2) education background, and 3) support of the unions.   Gary Lym has hedged his support for the bond measure which tells me that he is Trish Spencer redux.

Every time Mike McMahon runs I always get a bit nervous for him.   Why?   Because he’s not the warmest or fuzziest of Board Members.  In fact sometimes he can come off as downright abrasive.  But ever since the departure of Ron Mooney from the School Board, Mike McMahon is the only one, the ONLY one, that really truly understands all the nuances of public school funding.   To lose that sort of expertise simply because he rubs some people the wrong way would be a tragedy for the School District.

Not that some of the others don’t have their strengths on the School Board, but if you want institutional knowledge about how and what the School District has done in the past as well as an understanding of any new public school financing information and data: Mike McMahon is it.   So, this year I’ll be casting one vote for School Board and that will be for Mike McMahon.

Speaking of school related stuff.  When we were in Vietnam here’s a little something interesting that I learned.  In order to be accepted in public colleges in Vietnam you have to test into the school.  These tests are very difficult to pass.   But once you get in the cost of tuition is very affordable.   According to the young man I spoke to, it is around 64 million Vietnamese Dong per year which translates to around $300.   Book and materials will run another approximately $100.   This is for college in Nha Trang which has a population of around 500,000.   The rural colleges are much cheaper and the big city colleges in Saigon and Hanoi will run you more money.   Even so, the young man indicated that some very poor families, particularly in the rural areas, are unable to afford this even if their children are smart enough to pass the exams.