Meet East Penn School Board Candidate Garrett Rhoads

Age: 
40

Family: 
Happily married to my wife of 18 years with two children ages 10 & 12 attending East Penn Schools.

Political party affiliation:
Republican for 22 years.

Tell us about your educational background: 
Emmaus High School, 1990; attended Lehigh University 1990-1992.  Left to start my first company.

Tell us about your professional/business background: 
My first two companies were in the printing business (both sold into other companies).  I spent 3 years as President of Sales & Marketing for a healthcare software firm in NJ.  I am currently a partner in a real estate wholesaling firm for the last 7 years and the owner of IDC America Energy Consultants.

Why are you running for East Penn School Board? 
As a 37 year resident of the School District, I often talk with other residents who express a frustration with our current School Board with regards to political agendas and arguments as well as an overwhelming sense of hopelessness when it comes to being heard and responded to when they have issues with District decision making and policy.  I will work to make the School Board a more cooperative environment that responds to concerns from the public in a timely fashion.

What qualifies you to serve on East Penn School Board?
My years in the business world have taught me that serving on any board or committee requires patience and understanding.  Invariably, there two sides to any issue and in order for a board or committee to function properly, both sides must be heard so that a reasonable consensus can be reached.  I intend to use this skill to make our School Board less political and friendlier to teachers, parents, and taxpayers alike.  Additionally, I intend to use my business ownership experience to work in cooperation with the administration to work on ways to reduce operating expenses on an ongoing basis without taking dollars out of the classroom.

What do you see as the East Penn School Board’s primary role and responsibilities? 
I believe that the primary function of the school board is to serve as a liaison between the public and the administration.  It is our responsibility to include the public in District policy making and direction.

Tell us about three major challenges facing East Penn School Board and how you would address them. (Please be as specific as possible): 
I think the largest major challenge facing the School Board is the long term battle between two community organizations with opposing political agendas.  There is an unfortunate mis-conception being promoted that Chris, Wanda, and myself are members of one of the two groups.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We have not accepted any money from any political groups other than the PAC we created ourselves to fund our campaign.  Therefore, we will be able to work with other School Board members from both sides of the aisle and help to heal this problem.  The second challenge I see facing the current School Board is to improve its relationships with the community by making the interaction between School Board members and the public more friendly and open.  The third challenge I see is how we can work together with the community to create pressure on our elected officials in Harrisburg to correct unfunded mandates, the lack of an equitable funding formula for schools, unfair compensation for cyber-charter schools, and many other issues that we cannot control ourselves.  Just because we can't change something at a Board level doesn't mean we can't lobby to get Harrisburg to change.

How much are you spending to run? How is your campaign being funded? 
The total amount of money spent on our campaign has yet to be determined.  All of our contributions have come from private individuals.  We have not accepted contributions from any community political groups or other outside PACs.

What, if any, endorsements have you received? 
I have received the endorsement of the Lehigh County Republican Party.

Do you use social media? If so, please provide links to your Facebook and Twitter.
I do have a facebook account, but I use it primarily for business networking.