Gurrola Will Bring Legal Experience to Farmington School Board

George Gurrola spent much of his career working for state and local governments, giving them advice on bond issues.

Now a tax law specialist working with the Internal Revenue Service, he's the only candidate who filed to complete the unexpired term of former board member Gary Sharp. (Appointee Timothy Devine, who currently holds the seat, is not running.) If elected on Nov. 8—and Gurrola said he's not assuming anything—he'll serve through 2015.

On top of his career experience, he served on the that came up with plans in the aftermath of closing four elementary schools. Also, he said, "I have three kids. I want them to have the best education they can have ... I'm going to be involved with the school district for an awfully long time."

Gurrola's children are 5-year-old Charles, a kindergarten student at , and 4-year-olds Christian and Julianna, who are at . He said just the past four weeks with Charles taught him a lot about elementary education.

"Kindergarten is not at all what it was when I went," Gurrola said.

He admits he has a lot to learn about the "nuts and bolts" but said "my experience in education and law will allow me to be informed and effective." Gurrola said he has made presentations to the Michigan Association of School Boards, to which local officials belong.

A "big fan of organization," he believes "you have to have a method and make sure you have all the facts" before making decisions. Gurrola said he will not necessarily rely only on school administrators to tell him what he needs to know and will do his own research as well.

In dealing with parents and other residents, he said, "I think you have to understand that people care more about this type of government service than they care about anything else ... and remember people will be dealing with these things emotionally. You're not dealing with test scores and dollar figures, you're dealing with people's lives."

Gurrola's experience with his son, he said, "put the public schools to the test." Charles has some special needs, which have required coordination among teachers, social workers and others involved in his education.

"They've been phenomenal," Gurrola said. "It's been a smashing success. They all just took a 5 percent pay cut, had an increase in the cost of their benefits, but they do this with such passion. That kind of passion and dedication is not outsource-able."

Primary concerns for Gurrola are "creeping class size" and "the looming crisis in our capital needs." He pointed out the district hasn't built a school since 1990. The facilities study committee toured all the buildings, and "we have a lot of building that need fixing," he said. "What I'm really concerned about is that we're going to be in the same position we were two years ago, looking at closing buildings."

The sooner officials get in front of that, he said, the less it costs and the less it affects students. He'd like to see a long-range facilities plan, considering all options as the district's millages for bond payments expire. "We should not have to raise taxes in the short term," he said.

Gurrola said he's not afraid to take a bold stand and tackle big issues. "I'm not going to hold office and not make the tough decisions," he said. "As long as I've satisfied myself that I've done the right thing, I'll be happy."