Patch Candidate Profile: Tim Pollis For Richfield School Board

RICHFIELD, MN — This fall, Minneapolis residents will vote in several important local elections. Among the offices on the ballot is the mayor and city council seats, as well as the Minneapolis Park Board. Early voting in Minneapolis has already started.

Tim Pollis is running for one of the three open seats on the Richfield School Board.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles over the coming weeks.

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Are you running for office in Minneapolis? Contact William Bornhoft at william.bornhoft@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate profile and submitting campaign announcements to Patch.

Age (as of Election Day): 51

Town of Residence: Richfield

Position sought: Richfield School Board Member

Family: Spouse Michelle, two children (RHS 2017, RHS 2024)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No

Education: BS Mathematical Sciences, Villanova University; MS and Ph.D. University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Occupation: Actuary - 21 years

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: Richfield School Board since 2014

Why are you seeking elective office?

I hope to share the experience I have gained over the last eight years, and that I can still be of use to the community in overseeing the school district. I have other community experiences as well as professional experience that I believe can be helpful.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

RPS needs to increase the enrollment of students from Richield in our district. If the district can improve communication of the opportuntites for achievement within our disctrict, while increasing opprtunities for all our students to excel while with us, we should be able to accomplish that goal.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am the only candidate who has already served in this role. That said, each of the other two candidates seem to have a requisite level of smarts and care for the community to be worthy of consideration.

How do you think local officials are performing in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I can't speak for how other govt orgs responded. I think our local school board did an earnest job trying to manage the response. Nearly every aspect could be reconsidered on some level, but I can't say specifically what I would do differently with the information we had at the time.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

I want to use my experience and other skills to help see the district through covid and back to a less distracted pathway to improvement.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have done this job for 8 years, as well as other roles around youth sports in Richfield for over 10 years.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I have been proud to serve the community for eight years and would be further honored to serve if elected. There are three candidates for three spots, but I truly hope people come out and vote all the same.