Peter Huebner, currently serving in his sixth term as the member of the Board of Supervisors for District 2 in Sierra County, is pictured above attired in lederhosen, the traditional garb in his native land, while he attended the 2022 Oktoberfest in Sierra City this past Saturday. The event, held under delightfully blue and warm skies, featured music, food and beverages, and a number of booths where vendors displayed a wide variety of goods for purchase by attendees.PORTOLA - On October 4th, the League of Women Voters of Plumas County hosted a candidate forum at the Portola Veterans Hall where candidates for four-year terms on the Portola City Council, Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified School District - Trustee Area 4, and Plumas Unified School District - Trustee Area 5 appeared. The candidates for Portola City Council are Phil Oels (Incumbent), Bill Powers (Incumbent), and Leah Turner. The candidates for Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified School District-Trustee Area 4 are Kelly Champion and Jesse Whitley of Loyalton. The candidates for Plumas Unified School District-Trustee Area 5 are Leslie Edlund (Incumbent) from Quincy and Coby Hakalir from Blairsden.

The forum began with each candidate for the Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified School District-Trustee Area 4 being given 2 minutes for opening statements. Kelly Champion was the first to address the audience. Champion, a self-employed accountant who also works for Sierra County Children and Families Commission as a Business Manager and serves as the district clerk for the Sierra County Fire Protection-District 1, moved to Loyalton from Truckee and her children have attended Loyalton’s schools. She has been an active advocate for students, parents, and teachers throughout the pandemic and regularly attends school board meetings. “What I’ve realized is that we need some restructuring here at the board level, and I see the superintendent doesn't have the best leadership, and I see a huge need to improve the facilities, and do some upgrades, and we need to find funding sources. As an accountant I’m very familiar with small county funding issues and resource obstacles. I’d also like to improve our transparency to the public and our functionality.”

Jesse Whitley followed Champion, stating he moved from Oregon and has 4 children. “I would like to see a bigger voice for parents and children. I would like to see a bigger focus on education. More like welding classes and stuff, and getting involved in trade schools as well as universities.” He expressed concern with the politics involved in the school systems.

The first question asked was, “What are three major roles of being a trustee member?” Whitley responded, “I don't know what the book says but to me, personally, I think a trustees position is to advocate, again, for the voices of their constituents, to protect the children, and to see that everything runs smoothly both economically and structurally.” Champion responded, “one of the main goals is to establish the mission, or vision, of the community. They are also there to manage the superintendent. They are also there to maintain the budget and strategic planning, and long term, long range planning.”

The next question was, “What has been the most important issue in the school district in the past two years in your opinion?” Whitley responded, “I think it was a lack of leadership and unity within the board.” She expressed challenges with staff and finance issues. Whitley responded that due to the pandemic there was a shortage of staff and expressed concerns over the ability of students and parents to be heard.

When asked about social emotional learning, Whitley said he felt parents don't get the opportunity to know what's going on in school due to lack of transparency. Champion said she has seen a lot of social, emotional challenges, most within students and teammates. She stated the school has a duty and obligation to adapt to the quickly changing social climate.

Asked, “How much, and in what way, should board members seek out abusive teachers and other school staff?” Kelly responded there should be constant surveys to everyone to gather the proper knowledge in order to have a clear goal. Whitley said, through technology and phone calling, different forms of communication should be sought in order to connect and talk with people.

When asked how he would respond to parents wanting to remove books from a library or classroom, Whitley said he would have to be versed on the legalities of removing literature, and get a clear census on why someone would want it removed. Champion replied that depending on the content, if it's offensive or causing an issue, she would discuss it with staff and put the topic on the agenda for open discussion before the public.

When asked what techniques should be used to evaluate teachers properly and thoroughly, Champion suggested evaluation should be unbiased and standardized. Whitley agreed about standardization, respecting the opinions of students and teachers, and, depending on the situation, evaluation may require a “closed session” environment.

“If elected, what are your top two priorities as a trustee?” was the next question posed to the candidates. Whitley stated it would be respecting the parents’ schedule regarding school events, and scheduling around parents' work hours whether it be school board meetings, sporting events, or any other matters. Champion replied by calling for improving the functionality of the board, providing leadership in holding the superintendent accountable, enhancing transparency, working with parents and the city in order to have facilities properly maintained or replaced with improved. She also emphasized the need better management of funds.

“How many school board meetings have you attended in the Plumas Unified School District and have you asked any questions in those meetings?” Champion responded that she has attended at least 20-24 and has been attending every month for the past few years, and expressed how she always has questions to analyze the board's decisions, and feels sometimes decisions are made without thoroughly viewing all angles. Whitley responded he has been to about 5 meetings, saying he usually goes “directly to the source,” going directly to the individual he wants to speak with.

In closing, Whitley re-emphasized regarding the politics in the schools. He is a registered Republican, but wanted to mention, “if you look up conservative, the synonym for conservative is stability, and the synonym for liberal is benevolence, and I think in our schools and in our country we need to see more stability and benevolence.” Champion emphasized how she works well in group environments, likes to get things accomplished, and her heart is in the school district and communities. She mentioned the schools have a lot to recover from, have been through a lot the past few years, and she would like to give people the best opportunity to recover and feel safe at school. “I do not believe our government, especially in Sacramento, needs to be directly controlling what we do in our local schools, and I don't believe that our politics, and our individual healthcare is a politician's decision, and I’d like to shield our students from that division, and get back to educating our kids.” She said she's seen many areas of strength to be built upon and she would like to see it be the very best it can be.

Due to space limitations the presentations made by candidates for the Portola City Council and Plumas Unified School will be provided in our next issue.