CV Task Force Flexes Political Muscle

Five brand new candidates upset through a determined campaign to overhaul the Chartiers Valley School Board.

But it was the behind-the-scenes work of their political action committee – Chartiers Valley Task Force for Academic Excellence – that helped them raise thousands and organize to get voters to the polls.

The Task Force formed nearly three years ago when several parents began discussing the future of the school district while at board meetings. The decentralized group quickly gained momentum and now has more than 300 members who receive e-mail updates about board meetings and other school events.

The group helped persuade the sitting school board to continue interviewing superintendent candidates last year, which ultimately led to the hiring of Dr. Brian White Jr. But it was this year’s primary election where the Task Force really found its voice.

Sandy Zeleznik, Jamie Stevenson Bob Kearney, Wendy Huntoon and Steve Alauzen all were members of the Task Force and decided to run under its umbrella. The group helped the candidates raise thousands to build a professional-looking website, purchase billboard advertisements and deploy numerous yard signs around the district.

The Task Force PAC spent more than $22,000 during the campaign, most of which paid for construction of the website, according to Allegheny County campaign finance records. In comparison, school Director Pam Poletti spent about $900, while two other candidates spent less than $250. Poletti won a nomination on the Democratic ticket.

But Mark West, a Collier Township resident and member of the Task Force, said it was more than money that tilted the primary election. West said the group’s “sweat equity” from going door-to-door and talking to parents surpassed the amount of money spent during the campaign.

“Some of the advertising helped get the word out, but that wasn’t good enough,” West said. “We literally had to get it one vote at a time.”

West, who said he never voted before in an off-year primary, did not realize the amount of work that goes into mobilizing for a campaign. The website generated at least 60 volunteers, he said, and dozens of Task Force members fanned out to the polls to greet voters on election day.

“We have a lot of people in our Task Force. It was a grass roots effort,” West said. “We had five candidates who were educated, had kids in the district, were motivated and worked their butts off.”

Now the Task Force turns its fundraising and organizing machine to the general election with . If victorious in November, the Task Force will have a seat at the school board table rather than just in the audience.