Michael Bunitsky
Michael Bunitsky is an at-large representative on the Frederick County Board of Education in Maryland. Bunitsky ran for the seat in the primary election on April 26, 2016. He won in the general election on November 8, 2016.[1]
Biography
Bunitsky earned his M.A. in political science from Hood College. He was a district teacher and specialist from 1980 until his retirement in February 2016. Bunitsky and his wife, Janice, have four children.[2]
Elections
2016
Three of the seven seats on the Frederick County Board of Education were up for general election on November 8, 2016. A primary election was held on April 26, 2016, with the top six vote recipients advancing to the general election. Incumbents Zakir Bengali and Joy Schaefer filed for re-election, while Kathryn Groth did not file for the 2016 election. Bengali and Schaefer faced challengers Michael Bunitsky, Lois Jarman, Ken Kerr, Jay Mason, Shirley McDonald, and Cindy Rose in the primary. All candidates except Bengali and Mason advanced to the general election.[1]
Schaefer, Kerr, and Bunitsky defeated Rose in the general election. On July 12, 2016, Jarman announced her withdrawal from the race in an effort to deny election to Rose by shifting votes to other candidates. Jarman told attendees at a South Frederick County Democrats meeting that she considered Rose "a dangerous candidate" due to her divisive personality. In an email to The Frederick News-Post, Rose said that she is only considered divisive because "I involved the public and the establishment doesn't abide sunshine." Rose was the only candidate who identified as a Republican.[3] Shirley McDonald dropped out of the race on July 13, 2016.[4]
Results
| Frederick County Public Schools, At-large General Election, 4-Year Terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Joy Schaefer Incumbent |
27.62% | 65,734 |
| Ken Kerr |
25.71% | 61,172 |
| Michael Bunitsky |
24.97% | 59,431 |
| Cindy Rose | 21.08% | 50,157 |
| Write-in votes | 0.62% | 1,470 |
| Total Votes | 237,964 | |
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "2016 Presidential General Election Results," accessed December 14, 2016 | ||
| Frederick County Public Schools, At-large Primary Election, 4-Year Terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Joy Schaefer Incumbent |
17.41% | 20,367 |
| Cindy Rose |
14.98% | 17,519 |
| Michael Bunitsky |
14.73% | 17,233 |
| Ken Kerr |
13.82% | 16,166 |
| Shirley McDonald |
11.96% | 13,987 |
| Lois Jarman |
9.71% | 11,361 |
| Zakir Bengali Incumbent | 8.79% | 10,285 |
| Jay Mason | 8.58% | 10,038 |
| Total Votes | 116,956 | |
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Unofficial 2016 Presidential Primary Election results for Frederick County," accessed April 26, 2016 | ||
Funding
Candidates for public office in Maryland had until March 22, 2016, to submit their first contributions and expenditure report of the primary campaign. The final campaign finance deadline of the 2016 campaign was November 22, 2016.[5] State law allows candidates to file Affidavits of Limited Contributions and Expenditures (ALCE) if their campaigns did not accept $1,000 in contributions or spend $1,000 in a particular reporting period.[6]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $12,323.00 and spent a total of $11,952.99 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System.[7]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joy Schaefer (incumbent) | $3,530.00 | $384.49 | $4,025.01 |
| Michael Bunitsky | $3,570.00 | $5,142.21 | $1,286.99 |
| Ken Kerr | $3,350.00 | $2,847.66 | $3,468.40 |
| Cindy Rose | $1,873.00 | $3,578.63 | -$348.19 |
March 22 filing
Candidates received a total of $8,005.06 and spent a total of $3,185.68 as of April 19, 2016, according to the Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System.[8]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zakir Bengali (incumbent) | ALCE | ALCE | ALCE |
| Joy Schaefer (incumbent) | ALCE | ALCE | ALCE |
| Michael Bunitsky | $3,949.00 | $2,665.22 | $1,283.78 |
| Lois Jarman | $540.98 | $387.01 | $153.97 |
| Ken Kerr | ALCE | ALCE | ALCE |
| Jay Mason | $1,025.00 | $52.19 | $1,166.00 |
| Shirley McDonald | $1,090.08 | $81.26 | $4,008.82 |
| Cindy Rose | $1,400.00 | $0.00 | $1,400.00 |
Campaign themes
2016
Bunitsky provided the following response to a questionnaire from the Frederick Classical Charter School:
| “ |
I retired from my position as Curriculum Specialist for Secondary Social Studies on February 1, 2016. As an educator in the Maryland public school system for over forty years I have worked with and supervised a great many teachers. I have taught in both Prince George’s and Frederick County Public Schools and worked there with a few thousand students. I am running for the board because it is the right thing to do at the end of my career in education. I believe I have a unique perspective and can represent a variety of constituencies. My view of the Board of Education is that it is a body that makes decisions affecting all of the public schools. The many questions in your questionnaire are specific to one school evidently, the Frederick Classical Charter School. The Board of education makes fiscal, policy and regulatory decisions for all public schools, one of which is the Frederick Classical Charter School. If all sixty-seven schools requested detailed explanations individually the candidates would have time for nothing else. I appreciate that in your email you let us know that 1500 parents and family members in “your community” are looking forward to the answers prior to the primary election. I believe it is inappropriate for individual schools to expect special treatment. The other candidates are free to agree or disagree but I would not answer a questionnaire from Governor Thomas Johnson High School or the Career Tech Center either. So I will offer my comments publicly to all 250,000 people in Frederick County using a variety of methods. The entire community is involved in the primary election and they can access all of our information by going to our blogs, web sites, Facebook pages, the League of Women Voters site and the Frederick News Post. As a group we were together at a forum in Urbana which is on line at 1450 AM and many of us have individual interviews there. We will be all together again this evening, April 11, and again on Wednesday evening, April 13. There is opportunity to ask questions and listen to answers. The PTA Counsel sponsors the Wednesday evening event. They too are an advocacy group. I believe the board is to provide policy and fiscal decision making to ensure that every child has access to an excellent education. Every child means every school also. The various charter schools are our public schools. I will follow the law and I believe it is a fair law. Each charter and each public school have measurements to which they must comply. The metrics may be different for each school but the decision-making will be based on the charter or contract or law that governs. That is one of the roles of a Board of Education. [9] |
” |
| —Michael Bunitsky (2016), [10] | ||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maryland State Board of Elections, "Frederick County 2016 Presidential Primary Election Local Candidates List," February 10, 2016
- ↑ Mike Bunitsky for BoE, "About," accessed April 14, 2016
- ↑ The Frederick News-Post, "Jarman drops out of school board race," July 12, 2016
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Frederick County 2016 Presidential General Election Local Candidates List," October 27, 2016
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Reporting Schedule," accessed February 10, 2016
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "EAffidavit Filing," accessed February 10, 2016
- ↑ Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System, "View Filed Reports Information," accessed October 30, 2016
- ↑ Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System, "View Filed Reports Information," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Mike Bunitsky for BoE, "Charter Schools in Frederick County," April 12, 2016
| 2016 Frederick County Public Schools Elections | |
| Frederick County, Maryland | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Zakir Bengali • Incumbent, Joy Schaefer • Michael Bunitsky • Lois Jarman (withdrawn) • Ken Kerr • Jay Mason • Shirley McDonald (withdrawn) • Cindy Rose |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
