Candidates disavow any ties to flyer endorsing them
By Marcus Clem
A mailed flyer on a pending bond issue, which also urges support for two school board candidates, has arrived with some controversy in the final days of the 2024 St. Joseph Board of Education campaign.
A group called Families for a Strong St. Joseph published the flyer after registering with the Missouri Ethics Commission on March 6, listing Andrew Bakker as treasurer. No data about Bakker could be found. The phone number given to the commission as a means of contact is a Google Voice account of Chicago. Nobody responded to calls and emails about the flyer. No funding source is indicated in the filings.
“Dr. Jacob McMillian & Ronda Chesney: They’re for Teachers, Students & Parents!” the flyer declares. The two are “a fresh start for the SJSD,” it adds.
But Chesney and McMillian have disavowed association with the group.
“This is not my flyer,” McMillian wrote on Facebook. “I support the bond issue in April.”
Who exactly is behind the campaign isn’t clear. State law requires political action committees to file a financial report for any election-related expenses eight days ahead of election day, in this case on or before March 25.
Voters will choose three school board candidates on April 2 and either approve or reject Proposition St. Joseph School District, the $20 million bond issue.
The flyer does not specifically urge people to vote against the bond, but it makes statements including that the Board of Education wants to “raise taxes to install turf fields while cutting the school week to four days.”
The board rejected a four-day class plan on Feb. 26, and there is no indication it will revisit the issue. The bond aims to do several things besides install turf fields, including replace the running tracks at all three high schools; fund science, technology and fine arts programs in the district; further renovate climate control systems; and install a districtwide intercom, aside from tackling various other interests.
Passage of the bond requires approval by more than 57.143% of voters. Taxes will not be raised if the measure passes. Instead, the district will borrow $20 million from private investors, and then pay them back via the current tax levy. This is set at $4.32 for every $100 in property value that exists within school district boundaries, and will not go up or down via Proposition SJSD.
McMillian and Chesney each affirmed Wednesday that they fully support Proposition SJSD. Each said they have had no communications or other notice whatsoever that they would be endorsed by Families for a Strong St. Joseph. McMillian said he does have some agreement with the flyer’s advocacy, such as on points about giving teachers more resources or upholding parental rights.
“I just think that it’s a good reminder in politics that when a candidate is endorsed by a group … we should not assume that that candidate and that group share the same position on every issue,” McMillian said.
Chesney pledged to work with any group that wants to offer a constructive point of view on the future of the district.
“And as a school board member, I would work to collaborate with the school district, with community organizations and other board members in order to achieve those goals for our students and the community,” she said.
