Jim Murray

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your family
My wife and I have been married for 22 years.  We moved to the St. Cloud area the spring of 1996.  We have two children, Melissa age 15 and Sam age 8.  Melissa attends Apollo Senior High and Sam attends St. Peter's Primary school.  I work in the Cardiac Cath Lab at St. Cloud Hospital as a Radiologic Technologist.  Sally works for Benton County as a WIC Grand Poobah.  We have a Golden Retriever named Chester, a Cat named Ozzy, and a Leopard Gecko named Lizzy. 

What experience do you have that prepares you for public office
This is my first run for public office.   I have served in several professional organizations as a board member however.

Why you decided to run for this office
I like to be involved in my community and with my children's education, so it's a natural fit.  Talking about issues facing district 742 with co-workers and neighbors has been very rewarding.  You can really feel the sense of community.

Top three issues you would tackle, if elected
Unfunded mandates to our district certainly need to be a top priority.  It has a crippling effect to an already budget conscious environment.  I feel it's too easy for State and Federal government to pass on the responsibility for programs to school departments without including the funding to run the program/s.
 
Communication between the school board and the community needs attention.  Recent administrations have vastly improved communications but there is still room to improve.  It would be nice to foster informal sessions between school board members and the community. 
 
Stability of programs offered thru district 742.  We should never have to hear that a good program was dropped due to loss of funding.  It's frustrating as a parent and as a tax payer.