Brian Boman
Age: 40.
Occupation: Self-employed, emergency roadside service company.
Family: Wife Kathy, two children ages 12 and 19.
Education: Diploma from Rogers High School in Puyallup.
Contact information: 360-273-5988 or boman98@comast.net.
Political experience: None.
What is the top issue facing the Rochester School District?
I think just getting the education up to standard.
For the kids, basically we don’t have a parks and recreation, so I want to be an advocate to use our schools for afterschool activities and camps.
How are you different from the other candidates?
I haven’t really talked with them too much. … It’s an open position so it’s not like we’re running against an incumbent.
If elected, what would you want to accomplish in the next four years?
I would like to get more community involvement within our schools. I just want to be there to listen to the community, to let their voice be heard. We’ve had a lot of levies and bonds, and we have really nice schools. I think we can better our education and use (the facilities) more for our children and community.
Piper Lyon
Age: 48.
Occupation: Flavorist (develops flavors for oral care products, candy and gum) for Essex Laboratories Inc.
Family: Divorced, two children ages 13 and 16.
Education: Diploma from Rochester High School, and bachelor’s degree in animal biology from Washington State University.
Contact information: 360-273-3406 or PiperLyon@aol.com.
Political experience: None.
What is the top issue facing the Rochester School District?
Budget and cultural diversity.
How are you different from the other candidates?
My running for Rochester School Board District 4 is for the community. I believe in the importance of the basics in education, but also realize how different programs can keep kids in school, wanting to learn and not limit them.
My oldest son is disabled, and therefore I have an interest in having the best our school can do for kids with similar challenges. Watching my youngest explore his interests with clubs, sports and other activities also enlightens me to how important the social aspects of school can be.
If elected, what would you want to accomplish in the next four years?
I would be proud to serve my community and be their voice for our school. It would be such an honor to work with the other board members for our children’s enrichment.
Glen Morgan
Age: 40.
Occupation: Property rights activist and project manager for STOP Thurston County.
Family: Wife Lauren, and four children ages 3 to 6.
Education: Diploma from Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way, and bachelor’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University in New York.
Contact information: 360-791-6556 and glen@stopthurstoncounty.com.
Political experience: Placed second in a race for Thurston County Assessor in 2010. (He secured about 48 percent of votes.)
What is the top issue facing the Rochester School District?
Our financial health as a school district is very important to me. Thurston County is reducing our property values in Rochester.
On a related issue, we’re following very closely the Great Wolf Lodge settlement, (which involves) several hundred thousands of dollars. We don’t want Thurston County to give that away.
We also need to work on our students’ reading skills, so as school board members, we need to give as much support to improve the reading skill levels as we can.
How are you different from the other candidates?
I actually think we have two other very good candidates. If we sat down, I think we’d agree generally on the issues that face Rochester.
If elected, what would you want to accomplish in the next four years?
Just keeping our school district healthy and supported financially. We’ve got a good board right now, and we haven’t had to fight some of the battles that the others have had with unions. … In the end it’s about providing the best education we can to our children.
