Westlake School Board Election 2011: Geoff Rapp

Name: Geoff Rapp

Date of Birth: August 16, 1946

Occupation: Vice President of Engineering & Quality for Bettcher Industries, Inc.

Education: Majority of undergraduate work in pre-med biology and chemistry at Wittenberg University, Bachelor of Science in Biology from Kent State University, Master of Business Administration from Cleveland State University

Family: Married with 11 children in a blended family (7 adult biological children and 4 adult stepchildren) and 17 grandchildren

Years residing in Westlake: 34 years

Office Sought: Board of Education

Previous Public Offices Held: None

Registered: Republican

Email: Geoff@betterwestlakeschools.net

Campaign Web Page: www.betterwestlakeschools.org

Candidate Statement: I love my community, and I love teaching. I am proud to say that I am a Christian and a Conservative, both of which require me to take responsibility for my actions and to encourage others to do the same. These are the values that our nation was built upon, and these are the values that to this day will serve to make our community and its citizens the best that they can be.

The rancor, contentiousness, and lack of cohesiveness of the Board are neither healthy nor productive.  I believe that I could bring rationality and reasonableness to the Board, and that I could provide innovative approaches to problem solving and continuous improvement. 

I will make a significant contribution to the Board, based on demonstrated success in the following areas:

• I will bring unity by focusing energy and effort on the actual tasks and responsibilities of the Board, as I have done in my past ventures.
• I will bring the wisdom born of experience because of my extensive background, and because of the maturity that I possess.
• I will bring integrity and leadership because these are my core values.
• I will bring a fact-based, analytical, value-model approach to improvement of the schools and the education of our student citizens.  The security of all of our futures will depend on us growing tomorrow's leaders from today's students.

I chose to move into Westlake 34 years ago because I liked what I saw in this community. I raised my seven children here and sent them to the different schools in Westlake because I recognized the quality of the education that they would receive. We cannot, however, pretend that schools do not need to continuously improve in order to remain vibrant and effective, and it is my passion to help that to occur.

I would encourage you to learn more about me by visiting my website, which is www.betterwestlakeschools.org.

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