This morning Erik Johnsen called me.
He is a candidate for the Medford school board.
He said my post yesterday about the Medford school board election indicated my orientation toward stability and continuity. He said that continuity had its place -- and certainly collegiality on a board does -- but that the Medford school board needed to press reset. He said he is a sensible, responsible change agent.
Erik Johnson is a candidate for Position Three. The school board chair Cynthia Wright, is running for re-election in that position. Another candidate, Taryne Saunders is as well. My post yesterday warned that Taryne Saunders presented herself as a disrupter, both at school board meetings and as a candidate at public events. I did not want her to win. Neither does Erik.
I decided to give him an opportunity to present his case.
Here is a statement from Erik Johnsen
Dear Peter and the readers of the Up Close blog,
I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the state of the Medford School Board race. Based on your post from May 15, 2025, it is difficult to debate or offer counter-points to an anonymous “Bill,” and his stated preferences. But as someone actually IN the race, who knows the people and issues that are at play, I thought I could help share some valuable perspectives to your readers.
Peter’s stated preference is for stability and low conflict. Stability is generally a good thing to have in an organization, but significant change rarely comes from the status quo. The fact is that the Medford School District’s enrollment has been on a steady decline since COVID, and the only explanation offered by the district is declining birth rates. There is some truth to that, but that is not the whole truth. Migration in and out of the area can be a factor, and I personally know a great number of families who have chosen to leave the school district in favor of home school, private schools, and neighboring districts. Our community is telling us we need to do better, and voting with their feet. We need to answer the call, and I personally do not believe the status quo will allow that to happen. In terms of low conflict, the current board has been “anything but,” and that ultimately comes down to board leadership. As a retired superintendent recently told me: “every problem that exists is actually a leadership problem.”
As a first time candidate, I will make note of an interesting observation for your readers. For a non-partisan race, many casual observers and voters tend to revert to a very right vs left lens of this school board race. Those concerns have been further stoked by public comments from MTN Church and the Oregon Education Project, many months ago. It does not seem to me that their stated objectives have received the organizational support they had hoped for. For people who do follow school district issues and politics, the real divide seems to be a split on the school board, and there is a lot energy being spent trying to figure out which “camp” each of the candidates are in. Having gotten to know Angela Zbikowski and Sandra LaNier McHenry over the last few weeks, I would like to emphatically state that we are NOT playing that game. Personally, I am seeking to build bridges with everyone, and I see no need to burn them down before I even get on the board and have to start working with people. If you would like to see positive things get done for kids, I would suggest rejecting the typical right vs left lens, and the lens that seeks to put board members in certain “camps,” and vote for the folks to have mastery of the issues, and the professionalism to work well with everyone. That is the only way this school district is going to get stuff done for kids.
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I'm not supporting Erik Johnsen. I support Cynthia Wright. She is stable leadership that is needed, especially as the Medford School District is seeking a permanent Superintendent.
ReplyDeleteErik talks about "building bridges" and "professionalism" while he puts out conspiracy theories at a candidate forum, which the Rogue Valley Times wrote about yesterday.
He has a checkered past on the Madrone Trail School Board, which featured the Oregon Government Ethics Commission being involved there.
Cynthia Wright has many years of quality work on the Medford School Board. She is a proven woman that should continue in the role. I encourage everyone to vote for that, rather than the wildcards that are her opponents.
I strongly support voting for Erik Johnsen. He was president of the board of directors at Madrone Trail one I myself came onto the board. It was a contentious time and many aspersions were being cast. Yet Erik kept his head above it, kept his eyes on what was truly Important, which is what was best for the long-term health of the school. His leadership during that time was admirable and skillful. By diligently training new board members on public meeting law, managing budgets, and navigating difficult situations he fostered a healthy board. He worked hard and lead by example. He was always ready to offer timely and thoughtful responses to any inquiries I hadHe’s a person of his word with a lot of integrity. I feel lucky to have worked with him and grateful for his years of devotion to Madrone Trail. I’m sure he’ll be the same kind of public servant to the Medford School District. I’m proudly voting for Erik Johnsen.
ReplyDeleteI am gladly voting for Erik Johnsen. I had the pleasure of working with him on the board at Madrone Trail for a number of years. He was president and on boarded me and other new board members with the utmost professionalism. He informed us about public meetings law, managing budgets and more. His high level budgeting and organization skills left our school board in a much better place than it had been in many ways. He led by example with hard work and devotion to our school and kept his eyes on the important mission of always attempting to do what was best for the school. I learned a lot from him. He has much to offer. I am grateful for his years of service to Madrone Trail and think that the Medford school district is fortunate to have him as a candidate right now. I strongly encourage people to vote for Erik Johnsen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kevin Stine. While I do admire the efforts of those who work to step up in service of the public, I do question Erik’s motives. There are a lot of comments here praising him for his work with Madrone Trail - a charter school that has long struggled and been on the brink of closure more than once. Erik himself had questionable leadership that involved the Oregon Ethics Commission. His platform is advocating for MORE support for charter schools and yet by his own example there have been a long list of serious difficulties. The other board he served on, Roots and Wings preschool, has also faced significant hardships. It is not uncommon for nonprofits to face challenges. What is uncommon is to fail to recognize your own failings while criticizing others. That is not leadership.
ReplyDeleteCynthia Wright has navigated incredibly difficult situations. She shows up. She attends school functions, family events, leadership training, advocacy opportunities. She is the kind of board member you find only rarely. We are lucky she decided to run again and I happily cast my vote for her.
Entered on behalf of Gesine Abraham, who had system trouble entering the comment herself:
ReplyDeleteI joined the MTCS board at the same time as Erik Johnson. We served a 4 year term. Having worked closely with him throughout that time I would like to speak on his behalf.
I was one of the founding members of the school and therefore present from the beginning. There was only one time when the school was close to being in noncompliance with the charter agreement, which would be a basis for school closure. Board membership had dwindled to a number required by the bylaws and Erik applied to join the board to remedy that situation. There were no threats of closure during his time on the board.
The ethics complaint was brought by an employee who had requested a mediated meeting with the board. The board met to consider his request and informed him that the board agreed to a mediated meeting with him. After he was informed of the decision, he filed a complaint with the ethics commission. He claimed he was not informed beforehand of the meeting and that notice of the meeting was not posted on the website.
The investigation found that the employee was in attendance at the recorded board meeting when the board set the date, time, and place for the meeting to consider the employees request. They determined that the meeting was posted in advance on the website as required. Written notice was also provided, but it was delivered an hour or so short of the 24 hours required. The commission also noted that they did not think there was intent to go around open meeting laws. In other words, the core of the complaint was unsubstantiated. Throughout this investigation Erik maintained the utmost professionalism. I believe that going through this investigation actually makes Erik more qualified for a board position than he otherwise would be because he is now very informed about open meeting law and board protocols.
One of the things I most admire about Erik is that he is the opposite of someone who jumps to conclusions. After working as a kindergarten teacher since the 1970's, I have observed that parents have strong feelings about their child's education which leads to drama in school settings. I could count on some sort of crisis almost every year of one kind or another. Erik has the rare quality of not taking sides. He keeps level headed and genuinely attempts to consider all sides of an issue. When intense emotions rise up, Erik steers the ship through the storm with an even hand.
The reason why Erik was asked to lead the board as board chair was due to his leadership qualities, qualities grounded in a genuine desire to serve and not a drive for power or position. He gives his all even when it's a thankless task. He set his ego aside many times and just kept on working for the good of the children and the school. He is grounded, conscientious, responsible, a good listener, and inclusive.
The MSD board would be very fortunate to have Erik join their team.