In both 2011 and 2013, I ran for Scranton School Board.  It was enough that I promised myself I’d never do that to my family again.  Obviously, that promise is broken, as it’s 2019 and Tom Borthwick for Scranton School Board has risen from the ashes.

This is a post about why.

My lovely wife remembers my run as a time when I only had short, frantic moments for conversation that were about whatever crazy things I did that day, followed by me hanging up and passing out from exhaustion.  She was in college at the time.  Long distance relationships are no fun, and my campaign created more unfair distance.

I’d get out of work at 3 pm every day, knock on doors until sundown, go to parties until around 10 pm, stop at a pub for an hour and buy a round, come home to make phone calls to confidantes, then pass out around 1 or 2 am from sheer exhaustion.  Then wake up at 6 am and start over.  It wasn’t pleasant, but it was what I thought needed to be done to win.

I made a mistake that I won’t make this time:  I was alone.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of people support me and some working with me.  But I thought the job of the candidate was to do all of the heavy lifting.  I’ve seen many campaigns since my last and the most successful ones are group efforts.  This time will be different and, if you recall the title of the post, I’m asking you to help me fix this.

It’s a tall order.  Step 1 is to help elect me to the Board.  Step 2 is to help me identify problems and solutions.  Sure, I’ve got lots of those already, but I don’t know everything and public servants need to be partners with the public they serve.  That’s my operating philosophy.  I’ve already begun a document, which I will soon open to the public for viewing, covering many problems that people have identified in the short time since I’ve announced.

Crowd-sourcing problems and solutions seems to me to be a viable way of connecting the people of the city with those the people elect.

Beyond that, I want to say why I’m a promise-breaker:  I have a young son and another baby on the way.  They’re going to go to Scranton schools, just as my wife and I did.  We had a phenomenal education and many of our friends and family members have gone onto great success, thanks to Scranton.  Right now, my kids will get a worse education than I got and that’s a horrible prospect to contemplate.  And so I asked myself one question: Would I regret not trying?  The answer was clear, and here I am.  Especially because if my kids are affected, so are your kids.  My community is your community.  My city is your city.  I’m proud of where I’m from and want to see it thrive.  If the district collapses, the city follows suit, despite the current trajectory the city has toward recovery.

I know many young families that have left here for the Abingtons, and every time I hear it, I get it, but I resent that people abandon the city rather than strengthening what made them the successes that they are.

So let’s work together and stop giving people a reason to leave.  Let’s make the district better.  Let’s make Scranton better.

Together.