Editor, The Spotlight;
I am writing to strongly endorse fellow BCHS parent and Bethlehem neighbor, Jonathan Fishbein, for Bethlehem Central School Board.
Jonathan is a certified mediator, with 25 years of experience and proven ability to deliver innovative and workable solutions to difficult, sometimes divisive problems. As an appellate attorney, he is especially skilled at understanding multiple perspectives and multidimensional problems and nurturing consensus across a broad array of stakeholders.
Jonathan is a committed BCSD parent and dedicated community member who listens to the variety of perspectives and can make tough decisions that will work best for our schools and our community. As a trained accountant with 37 years of business experience, he knows how to be fiscally responsible, he understands the value of long-term planning in charting our fiscal course, and he is committed to the importance of balance to ensure high quality schools at an affordable price for our community.
Jonathan is an evidence-based decision maker, who believes in drawing on the data – and sharing that transparently – to make the best decisions. As a board member, he will insist on complete and accurate information, consider perspectives of all community members, and find the solutions that best meet our diverse and sometimes competing needs.
As a long-time Bethlehem resident, Jonathan understands our community, the needs of our students and the pressures taxpayers, especially our seniors on fixed incomes, are feeling. He has been thoroughly engaged as his children have progressed through the BCSD system. His son is a 2013 graduate and his daughter is a junior in high school. Jonathan understands how hard our teachers and school personnel work to deliver a high quality education to our students. His wife of 22 years, Paula, is a speech pathologist with the District.
I am so pleased that Jonathan is running for the School Board and will cast my vote for him on Election Day. His skills, perspective, understanding, commitment, dedication, sense of fiscal responsibility and common sense approach to finding common sense solutions will be an asset to the School Board and to the entire Bethlehem community.
Daniel C. Diamond
Bethlehem
