The Candidate

A couple of nights ago I wrote about having voted in this month’s election. I really should tell you one part of the story I left out…

As I was filling in the little ovals on the ballot, I realized for the first time that the (Republican) state representative from my (new) district is running unopposed. As I meditated on this little piece of information, I made the decision, somewhat impulsively I admit, to run for public office. I filled in the little oval next to the write-in space and then penciled in my own name.

So, there I was: an ordinary citizen one moment, a candidate for political office the next.

I “announced” my candidacy at work today. And as far as I know now, I’ll have two votes in my column come next Tuesday.

Scary Stuff

So, it’s Halloween ... supposedly the scariest day of the year.

My thought: Ha!

This evening I finished voting in the November election. (For those of you reading this from outside of Oregon, remember that we’re the one state that is exclusively vote-by-mail. I will put my ballot in the mail tomorrow.) As I complete my personal part of this electoral process, I look forward to next Tuesday, November 7th, as the most terrifying day of 2006. The stakes are high for the country. The stakes are high for Oregon. And the stakes are high for me. Let me explain ...

Nationally, we need to elect a congress, both House and Senate, that will stand up to George W. and his failed foreign policy. And bring an end to this fiasco in Iraq. This is an absolute must.

Additionally, the voters of Oregon need to reject the latest of the wildly-insane ballot measures that would lead to catastrophic cuts in state spending and cripple our education sectors and other highly-critical state-funded services.

Finally, and obviously, the outcome of the election is of personal import, because I work in public higher education and we receive a large portion of our support from the state’s general fund. The huge cuts that would result from the passage of Measures 41 and/or 48 would almost certainly dictate eventual job loss for me and perhaps the inability to ever be employed here in my working life again.

Watch out for those Oregon voters. Now they’re scary.

The Election

On November 7th, Oregon voters face a potential twin-towers of ballot measures. My opinion: NO votes on both Measure 41 and Measure 48 are crucial to the future of the state, as the effects could be more devastating to our education systems (and other state services) than was Ballot Measure 5 in 1990. Click on the links above to read what The Oregonian had to say when they weighed in on these matters. And then head on over the Defend Oregon Coalition website.

This is important! Really.

Roseburg Recycling

Dear Roseburg,

Yes, I know: I’m the new guy and maybe I should wait awhile before I offer you any specific suggestions about how to make this a better place. But I guess I just can’t help myself! Here’s my idea for the day.

Recycling. We can do better.

This is what I mean…

When I first moved into these apartments in mid-July, you’ll recall that I noted the dearth of recycling bins available. I was sure I was missing something. I mean, yes, I found the recycling bins; it’s just that there appeared to be only a very, very few, very, very small, garbage-can-size containers available to handle the recycling for about 150 apartments! How could that be?

Well, I found out. When I was at the Douglas County Fair last month, I had the opportunity to chat with the county employee who handles the local recycling. He let me know that the apartment complex is within the law (by basically doing the minimum allowable). Apparently they are obligated to provide a way to recycle, it’s just that there are no specifications regarding the scope or seriousness of the effort.

So, this is legal. Wow, too bad. I asked: so, how about if I want to recycle items on my own that aren’t accommodated by the inadequate apartment-complex bins? Where do I go, and how do I do that?

I knew there were a couple of recycling “centers” around town. I had found one of them when I wanted to recycle the newsprint packing-material from my move; this was a small, unattended facility in a parking lot, and I had stuffed the material into the bin marked “newspaper” there. I was somewhat mystified by the very modest nature of this place, but it handled what I needed it to at the time. I kept wondering where “recycling central” was, though. Surely, in this day and age, a city the size of Roseburg had more ambition than I was discovering!

However, I found out at the fair, not only was my path of discovery on track, but that it was really worse than I had imagined. For example, all recycling items need to be carefully sorted here (we’re still separating brown glass from green, for example), and then physically carted to one of the recycling places. Which, only a very small percentage of us here in Roseburg, or in Douglas County, actually do. There is no curbside recycling, with intermingling of items to be recycled. (Portland! I miss you!)

Happy Trails

Here is the text of the email I sent out to my colleagues this afternoon.

So…

Thus it ends; after two intense, event-filled years, my time as an interim dean here at MHCC is over. As I come closer and closer to seeing this campus in my rear-view mirror one last time, I know that it’s you, the faculty and staff of the Science & Technology Division, I will be missing.

It’s probably too early at this point to have a great deal of meaningful perspective about this entire experience. Questions such as “Jim, what did you learn?” are likely a bit premature. Honestly: I’m still grappling to understand this period of my life.

I began this position on July 14, 2004. For those who were on campus teaching that summer, I got to know you a little sooner than the rest. Although I acquainted myself with everybody’s name during those first few weeks, I literally did not lay eyes on some of you until the morning of September 15th, the first day of In-Service.

As you recall, during that first Division meeting, I gave up a brief autobiography; I described the rather non-linear life’s path that had led to me standing in the front of the room that day. Just weeks earlier, I had lost my position with the Oregon University System and found myself moving to Portland to try this interim-dean gig on for size.

Of course, I wanted to be liked, respected, and trusted. And competent. Nothing has ever defined me so much as a professional as my competence level. So, believe me, I wanted to fail neither you nor me.

A friend of mine asked, at the time, how I was going to possibly manage a group this large? (You were forty full-time faculty members strong at this point, not to mention the part-timers.) My response was that I needed to simply (hah!) attempt to establish one relationship at a time, building what trust I could along the way. I was coming in from the outside, the “dark (university) side,” and had had no community college level administrative experience. And I could only imagine you thinking: “what’s this guy about?!”

My belief was that you had to know me in order to trust me. That was the motivating factor for my little speech that first morning. And, I’ve attempted to be as transparent an individual as I possibly could be during the time I’ve been among you. As I depart, I hope, at least, that you feel you do know me. And I hope that I have earned your trust.

Prior to my time at MHCC, I had never attempted to lead, on a daily basis, a group as large and as diverse as you. As I reflect on my time here in the coming days and months, I know I will wonder what it is I could have done differently – i.e., better – in order to serve your needs. When it came to my relationships with you, I only ever wanted to be a colleague, a coach, a mentor, and a friend. Perhaps a cheerleader. I never really sought out, or identified with, the roles of adversary or “boss.” I suspect you know that I believe in the concept of “team,” which, of course, leads to the idea of “team leader.” If you were to remember me in that role, even in some little way, I would be honored.

I have only the deepest respect for you. I have felt honored and privileged to be among some of the most talented, dedicated, and hard-working educators I have ever known. I will miss you all.

The final (and BIG) announcement I have for you is that, just this afternoon, I accepted an interim position at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. I will be leading their Liberal Arts and Math & Science faculty for the coming year.

And, one more time: thanks for the wonderful book of Oregon photos, personalized with your written goodbyes. FYI: I love my new Waterman pen!

Bye for now...

Jim@TechnoMonk.us