There are seven candidates for Bowling Green City Schools Board of Education, and each got one minute to introduce themselves at a Face2Face: Meet the Candidates forum Sunday.
“I was somewhat dubious when we started talking about it because it’s so different from anything we’ve ever done before,” said Ellen Dalton, a board member with the League of Women Voters of Bowling Green. “I wasn’t sure if people would be willing to try this.”
Instead of having the candidates in front and the audience in rows of chairs, the new format had audience members sitting at round tables. A candidate spent 10 minutes at a table, answered questions, then moved on to the next table.
By the end of the evening each candidate sat at every table, and each audience member met every candidate face to face, or Face2Face.
Held at the Veterans Building in City Park, each of the 13 tables had five or more people sitting at it.
“I’m very pleased with the turnout,” Dalton said. “We had no idea what to expect. We could have accommodated twice as many people but I think we’ve got a good amount.”
The League of Women Voters of Bowling Green co-sponsored the event.
Dalton said this format allowed the public to meet each candidate face to face rather than watch them at a podium.
“If they had a question they wanted to ask any of the candidates, they had the chance to ask it and get an answer,” she said.
Stephen Bateson is BG graduate who moved back to the district in 2004. “I have Bobcat Pride but over the last 19.5 years, there’s been times I haven’t had a lot of Bobcat Pride.” He said he can bring common sense to complex problems and return a rural representative to the board.
Joseph Edens said he was “absolutely” in favor of the bond issue. He said the community needs to invest in the schools and support the staff. The district also had to find a way to recruit and retain quality educators.
Howard “Ardy” Gonyer said he is running for school board to give back to schools that contributed so much to his education. He also is 100% in favor of the levy and sees it as a number one priority. Once it passes, the community needs to look at what to do with the elementaries.
Steven Goyer said he would like to see transparency in the school district and incorporate ideas to represent all the people in the community. He said he supported the bond issue for a new high school.
Tracy Hovest, the only incumbent in the race, said she wants four more years to move the district forward. As a parent and a teacher, she is hoping to be the voice of many of the constituents. She wants to add diversity to the board and be a role model for little girls.
Brian Paskvan moved to Bowling Green 27 years ago and education is a huge aspect of their life. He is a lifelong educator, having taught at the college level and served in senior administration. He has watched the district struggle with the inability to pass levies, residual effects of COVID and decreasing enrollment and wanted to try to see if he could help.
Perry Thompson worked for 32 years in the accounts payable department with BGCS before retiring. Transparency and communication are vital and as a board member she would use her educational experiences to build a strong bond with stakeholders.
Three are to be elected.
Ginny Stewart and Jill Carr are not seeking reelection.
The public also got the chance to meet candidates for city council and mayor.
Co-sponsors were American Association of University Women Bowing Green Branch, Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce, and BGSU Retirees Association.
(In-depth stories in each of the city’s races will appear later this month.)
