Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Ryan Dack v. Jim Wright, area 6

     Ryan Dack, who is running against Jim Wright in the Area 6 trustee race (South Orange County Community College District), couldn’t afford to pay for a Ballot Statement, but he looks like a good candidate and Wright—well, not so much, IMO. (See area 6 map.)
     In a recent post on the Orange Juice Blog, OJB's Greg Diamond noted the absence of any candidate statement from Dack, and so Dack wrote back:   

RYAN DACK 
Oct. 7: 
     I jumped into my Area 6 College Board race late. Being a teacher with teacher pay, I didn’t feel comfortable putting up the $4,000 the OC Registrar requested for a Ballot Statement, especially before I had any meaningful time to raise funds. I have one posted on my website, and would be happy to talk to you further if you’d like to know more about me or my campaign for South Orange County Community College Board. As noted, I’m endorsed by the DPOC [Democratic Party of OC], and am helping support democrats up and down the ballot, including Carolyn Inmon in Area 1. 

DIAMOND responded with:

OK, why should you have our support? Why is the incumbent deficient and why will you be better? 

RYAN DACK
Oct 11: 
     Sorry for the late reply, I thought I’d get a notification. 
     When it comes to why voters should support me over my opponent, I think the most valuable experience I have going into this race is that I’ve actually taught during this pandemic. I know what is going on in classrooms that are still doing distance learning (which include IVC and Saddleback), and the problems, as well as opportunities, this learning environment brings. 
     My opponent has a long history in education, but the one thing he doesn’t have is experience with how education has changed during this pandemic, and what educators and students need in terms of support. His passivity on the Board of Trustees doesn’t reflect the needs of our community. As someone who has had to engage in distance teaching, I hope to be an advocate for students and educators during this difficult time. 
     Beyond COVID-19 issues, I am a strong supporter in making community college as affordable and accessible as possible and ensuring high demand courses remain available for all. 
     I’d love to have a longer discussion with you if you’re interested. Feel free to contact me directly: ryan@dackforcollegeboard.com 

His website is HERE

Dack pledges to
  • Fight to maintain a safe community college system, and utilize the resources necessary to keep our community safe. 
  • Maintain and expand current college affordability programs to ensure that students don’t need to get a second job to enroll in a second course. 
  • Expand course availability for courses that are difficult to enroll in. No student should defer a transfer to a four-year college because of full classes.


Here's James Wright's candidate statement:

2 comments:

Bob said...

I support Jim Wright for area 6 trustee. I've known him for years, watched him thoughtfully solve college and district problems.

Anonymous said...

I've seen how hard Jim Wright works during board meetings, always dotting i's and crossing t's when going over documents. He also has the loudest "AYE" during the meeting. LOL.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

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