Updated! School Board 2020: Candidate Questionnaire

St. Croix Valley Gifted will not host a 2020 Family Friendly Candidate Meet & Greet. Since 2014, we have hosted this event at the Carriage House in downtown Stillwater’s Teddy Bear Park. Our aim always is to provide an alternative for families who, tied to assorted evening commitments, can’t participate easily in weeknight events to meet school board candidates.

COVID-19 introduced contagion risks and shifted our options for bringing people together in a safe way. That is why our 2020 election questionnaire — always part of our event in past years — replaces the forum itself.  Links to candidate questionnaire responses (see below) will be activated as soon as we receive them. — MEDIA RELEASE (.pdf)

Updates & Voter Information

Watch for new details at this post as new school board election coverage appears.

• Preview our 2020 questionnaire
• Learn more about the current local context for GT learners
• Since this MCGT chapter formed in 2012, St. Croix Valley Gifted chooses not to endorse candidates
• This page includes links to language translation help, endorsements, and other coverage (updated! 10/3) and views — look for them after you review who’s on the ballot

Early voting in Minnesota, which includes the choice to vote by mail or vote early in person, started on FRI, 9/18. The general election takes place on TUES 11/3.

• Preview what your local ballot will look like
• Track your ballot by mail status (requires providing ID info at the time you first requested absentee voting by mail)
• Visit the Minnesota Secretary of State PollFinder for details about where to vote on Election Day.
• Be sure to confirm an existing voter registration or find out what you need for a new voter registration on Election Day.

NOTE ON CANDIDATE WITHDRAWALS: Four other people entered and then withdrew affidavits of candidacy ahead of the Minnesota deadline. Nance Purcell will appear on the ballot for an open seat (4-year term), but also has withdrawn her candidacy.

On the Ballot: Open Seats (4-Year) & Replacement Seats (2-Year)

Three Open Seats (4-year term)

The following candidates are running for one of the three open seats on the Stillwater Area Public Schools board and will serve a 4-year term. Asterisk* indicates candidates who are running for re-election.

Dawn Beavers – Candidate Questionnaire (.pdf)
www.dawnbeaversfor834unity.com |  Facebook

Katie Hockert – Candidate Questionnaire (.pdf)
www.katiehockertfor834schools.com | Facebook

Matt Onken – Candidate Questionnaire (.pdf)
https://onkenfor834.com | Facebook

Annie Porbeni – Candidate Questionnaire (.pdf)
voteannieporbeni.com | Facebook

Mike Ptacek* – Candidate Questionnaire (.pdf)
www.votemikeptacek.org | Facebook

Sarah Stivland* – Candidate Questionnaire (.pdf)
www.sarahstivland.com | Facebook

Two Replacement Seats (2-year term)

Two additional vacancies on the Stillwater Area Public Schools board must be filled to replace two directors who chose to end their terms early. Vacancies were filled by temporary interim appointments until the community can elect replacements to serve the remaining two years of these terms.

The following candidates are running for one of the two replacement seats; each will serve a 2-year term:

Tim Brewington – Candidate Questionnaire
www.votetimbrewington.com | Facebook

Joseph Ehrler – Candidate Questionnaire (.pdf)
www.joeehrler4stillwaterschoolboard.com | Linked-In

Bill Gilles – Candidate Questionnaire (.pdf)
www.billgilles.com | Facebook

Beverly Petrie – Candidate Questionnaire  (.pdf)
www.petrieforschoolboard.com | Facebook

Alison Sherman – Candidate Questionnaire (.pdf)
www.alisonfor834.com | Facebook

Roger Ziemann – Candidate Questionnaire
website not available | Facebook

Translation, Endorsements & Views

Language Translation Help

Do you need to translate this web page or candidate questionnaires into another language for an eligible voter? Por ejemplo, ¿necesita estos recursos de votación en español? Use Reverso or Google Translate — our link takes you to Spanish translation, but you can change the focus language as needed.

• View this page in Spanish: Copy / paste sections of text from this page into Google Translate.
• View Candidate Questionnaires in Spanish: Using the above links to candidate info, download each questionnaire (.pdf) to your computer or device. At Google Translate, choose the Documents button, then click Browse Your Computer to choose a questionnaire file to upload. Google Translate will put the full text of the .pdf into Spanish for you.

Local Endorsements

St. Croix Education Association (SCEA), the local teacher’s union, has endorsed candidates for both the Open and Replacement school board seats. SCEA also asked school board candidates to respond to a questionnaire.

10/3 Pioneer Press by Mary Divine | 16 former Stillwater school board members back slate of candidates

Coverage of Candidate Events & Views

St. Croix Valley Gifted will update regularly as new press coverage and candidate events for the Stillwater School Board candidates become available.

• Coming up on OCT 12, Valley Access Channels and the Stillwater Gazette will hold two separate forums with live coverage on Comcast Channel 15 and online
  • 6:45pm – Candidates running for 2-year terms
  • 8:30pm – Candidates running for 4-year terms
  • Watch for related coverage in a future issue of the Stillwater Gazette

The White Bear Lake Area League of Women Voters held a Zoom Forum on SEPT 17, see recorded forum video at link.