Amy Mlot
Amy Mlot is an at-large representative on the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District school board in Wisconsin. First elected to a one-year term on April 5, 2016, Mlot won a new term in the at-large general election on April 4, 2017.
Mlot previously ran for a seat on the board in 2015. She was defeated in the primary election.[1]
Biography
Mlot's work experience includes serving as a public relations and program development director for an independent living agency called Society's Assets and working as a human resources director for an adult family home provider. Mlot was the co-founder of YES for Oak Creek Schools, the organization that successfully petitioned to add two more members to the school board in 2016. She has served as a children's liturgy assistant for St. Matthew's Parish and as a member of the district's future facilities planning committee and the Southeast Wisconsin Workforce Development Board. Mlot earned a bachelor's degree in child and family life from the University of Wisconsin at Stout. She has two children who attend school in the district.[2][3][4]
Elections
2017
Two seats on the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on April 4, 2017. In their bids for re-election to the board, incumbents Amy Mlot and Mark Verhalen defeated challengers Sean Kingston and Juli Murphy.[5][6]
Results
| Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mark Verhalen Incumbent |
32.87% | 1,924 |
| Amy Mlot Incumbent |
30.63% | 1,793 |
| Juli Murphy | 20.16% | 1,180 |
| Sean Kingston | 16.33% | 956 |
| Total Votes | 5,853 | |
| Source: Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, "District News: Official Spring General Election Results," April 10, 2017 | ||
Funding
Mlot filed an exemption statement detailing she would not spend or receive more than $2,000 toward her campaign. Because of this, she did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[7]
2016
Four of the seven seats on the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on April 5, 2016. A primary election was held on February 16, 2016, to narrow the field of candidates from 13 down to eight.[8] Incumbent Frank Carini and challengers Veronica Baricevic, Joshua Borzick, Jeffrey Gassenhuber, Darin Grabowski, Elizabeth Sparks, Amy Mlot, and Beth Waschow won the primary election.[9][10] They faced off again in the general election, where Carini, Sparks, Grabowski, and Mlot were elected to the board.[11]
Two of the four seats on the ballot were up for election to regular three-year terms. The other two seats were on the ballot in order to increase the size of the board from five members to seven. Carini and Sparks, the top two vote-getters, won three-year terms. Grabowski, who came in third place, won a two-year term, and fourth-place candidate Mlot won a one-year term.[9][11]
Incumbent Jonathan Jossart and challengers Rosemarie Annonson, Sean Kingston, Thomas Kroon and Gregory Loreck were defeated in the primary election.[9][10]
Results
| Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-Large General and Special Elections, 3-, 2- and 1-year terms, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Frank Carini Incumbent |
17.20% | 5,131 |
| Elizabeth Sparks |
13.16% | 3,926 |
| Darin Grabowski |
12.42% | 3,705 |
| Amy Mlot |
11.78% | 3,514 |
| Jeffrey Gassenhuber | 11.44% | 3,412 |
| Joshua Borzick | 11.34% | 3,382 |
| Beth Waschow | 11.30% | 3,371 |
| Veronica Baricevic | 10.86% | 3,241 |
| Write-in votes | 0.51% | 153 |
| Total Votes | 29,835 | |
| Source: Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, "Official Results of the General Election," April 11, 2016 | ||
| Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-Large Primary Elections, 3-, 2- and 1-year terms, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Frank Carini Incumbent |
14.74% | 1,629 |
| Joshua Borzick |
9.20% | 1,017 |
| Veronica Baricevic |
9.14% | 1,010 |
| Beth Waschow |
9.08% | 1,003 |
| Amy Mlot |
8.10% | 895 |
| Darin Grabowski |
7.98% | 882 |
| Jeffrey Gassenhuber |
7.85% | 868 |
| Elizabeth Sparks |
7.19% | 795 |
| Gregory Loreck | 7.10% | 785 |
| Jonathan Jossart Incumbent | 6.70% | 741 |
| Rosemarie Annonson | 5.94% | 656 |
| Sean Kingston | 3.56% | 394 |
| Thomas Kroon | 3.41% | 377 |
| Total Votes | 11,052 | |
| Source: Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, "Official results for spring primary," February 22, 2016 | ||
Funding
Mlot filed an exemption statement detailing she would not spend or receive more than $2,000 toward her campaign. Because of this, she did not have to file additional campaign finance reports for this election.[12][13]
2015
| Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-Large Primary Election, 3-year term, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Sheryl Cerniglia Incumbent |
29.5% | 552 | |
| Nonpartisan | Pamela Stiglitz |
16.8% | 315 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kathleen Borchardt Incumbent |
16.6% | 310 | |
| Nonpartisan | Chad Richter |
11.3% | 211 | |
| Nonpartisan | Amy Mlot | 11.1% | 207 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jonathan Jossart | 8.9% | 166 | |
| Nonpartisan | Rosemarie Annonson | 5.8% | 109 | |
| Total Votes | 1,870 | |||
| Source: Franklin Now, "Voters in Oak Creek-Franklin and Greendale decide candidates for April 7 election," February 17, 2015 | ||||
Campaign themes
2017
Mlot participated in the following survey conducted by South Now. The questions provided by South Now are bolded, and Mlot's responses follow below.
1. What do you think are some of the biggest issues facing the district and how would you address them?
| “ | Improving communication was my number one concern prior to being elected. Going forward, we need to remain focused on improvement district wide and continue working together with all stakeholders to ensure every child is safe, engaged and challenged every day they are entrusted to our care.[14] | ” |
| —Amy Mlot (March 14, 2017)[15] | ||
2. Oak Creek is experiencing a development boom and Franklin has development in the works as well. With that likely brings more children to the district. Do you feel the district is ready for this influx in the years to come, or what do you think could be done to better serve these new and existing students?
| “ | It’s exciting to see development throughout our communities and it comes at a time when the community has supported expansion with the building of two new schools. We are evaluating our capital improvements and facility planning to determine where improvements are most needed and ensure we are addressing the expansion.[14] | ” |
| —Amy Mlot (March 14, 2017)[15] | ||
3. What makes the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District stand out to you – why should parents want to have their child in this school district?
| “ | As a parent with a students at the high school and East Middle School, I have seen first-hand the high-quality educators we have throughout the district. With a focus on being career and college ready and graduating students with four or more "high credentials" our district is a proven leader.[14] | ” |
| —Amy Mlot (March 14, 2017)[15] | ||
2016
Yes for Oak Creek Schools candidate profile
The group Yes for Oak Creek Schools published candidate profiles on its website. Mlot's answers to the group's questions can be found below. The bolded text indicates the questions provided by Yes for Oak Creek Schools.
| “ | WHY ARE YOU SEEKING SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE AT THIS TIME? #1- For increased parental representation on the school board. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR PRIORITIES AS A SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER? |
” |
| —Amy Mlot (2016)[2] | ||
Oak Creek Now candidate survey (general election)
Oak Creek Now asked the candidates in the general election the following two bolded questions. Mlot's responses are shown below.
Last summer, the school board agreed to spend $4.5 million to build a new auditorium "shell." How would you, as a board member, propose raising the additional $4 million needed to complete the project?
| “ | That is the $4 million question I have had since that decision was made. I am doubtful that any fundraising efforts would suffice. The district could use a $1 million dollar trust fund loan, but once all other resources are exhausted, inevitably, there may be no other way than to go back to the community. If you know any large donors looking to support the arts, the district would love to hear from you.[14] | ” |
| —Amy Mlot (2016)[4] | ||
The school board has been criticized in the past for not being transparent enough. Do you agree? If so, how would you improve the district's relationship with the community?
| “ | Since reading Dr. Culver's 100-day entry plan and witnessing his follow through with his plan, I have seen great improvements in transparency. I have seen districtwide improvements in engaging and enabling the public to access information in a timely manner. My goal would be to make more members of the public aware of the decision-making process and to continue to encourage parents and the community to take part in the conversation.[14] | ” |
| —Amy Mlot (2016)[4] | ||
Oak Creek Now candidate survey (primary election)
Oak Creek Now asked the candidates in the primary race the following two bolded questions. Mlot's responses are shown below.
Why are you running for a seat on the school board?
| “ | Having attended nearly all school board meetings over the last 21/2 years, I see a great need for increased parental representation on the board to better support the needs of our children. We also need to work toward a stronger relationship between the board, the district employees and parents.[14] | ” |
| —Amy Mlot (2016)[16] | ||
What is one major change you would like to see within the district?
| “ | We started Yes for Oak Creek Schools to improve the communication between the district and parents. I have a strong desire to work toward continuing to improve communication district-wide and believe this is the key to improving our district and building upon the community that we currently have.[14] | ” |
| —Amy Mlot (2016)[16] | ||
See also
- Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, Wisconsin
- Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District elections (2017)
- Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District elections (2016)
External links
- Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District
- Office website
- Campaign website
- Twitter page
- LinkedIn page
- Yes for Oak Creek Schools Candidate Profile
Footnotes
- ↑ Franklin Now, "Voters in Oak Creek-Franklin and Greendale decide candidates for April 7 election," February 17, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Yes for Oak Creek Schools, "Candidate Profile: Amy Mlot," accessed January 27, 2016
- ↑ Oak Creek Now, "Oak Creek-Franklin parent group pushes for larger school board membership," July 1, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Oak Creek Now, "Oak Creek-Franklin School Board candidates address auditorium funding, district transparency," March 22, 2016
- ↑ South Now, "A matter of choices: Enough candidates file to prompt races for spring elections," January 3, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee County Election Commission, "Summary Report: Unofficial Results," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Jill Bebeau, Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District" March 29, 2017
- ↑ Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District, "School Board Election Information," January 6, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcandidates - ↑ 10.0 10.1 Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, "Official results for spring primary," February 22, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Milwaukee County Election Commission, "Election Summary Final - Unofficial," accessed April 6, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "Campaign Financing," accessed January 25, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Jill Bebeau, Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District," February 15, 2015
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Wauwatosa Now, "Oak Creek-Frankin Joint School District candidates discuss issues," March 14, 2017
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Oak Creek Now, "Oak Creek-Franklin School Board hopefuls state their views," February 3, 2016
| Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District elections in 2017 | |
| Milwaukee County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Amy Mlot • Incumbent, Mark Verhalen • Sean Kingston • Juli Murphy |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
| 2016 Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Elections | |
| Milwaukee County | |
| Election date: | April 5, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Frank Carini • Incumbent, Jonathan Jossart • Rosemarie Annonson • Veronica Baricevic • Joshua Borzick • Jeffrey Gassenhuber • Darin Grabowski • Sean Kingston • Thomas Kroon • Gregory Loreck • Amy Mlot • Elizabeth Sparks • Beth Waschow |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
