With regard to yesterday's community commentary, "School District Received Nominating Petitions for Board Trustee Positions," I now have some information about the other two candidates whom I did not know.
I also have been made aware of two minor corrections, and I will quickly cover those first:
(1) Mr. Gutekunst's first name is William, and not "Walter", as I had typed.
(2) James Tomeo graduated from John Glenn HS in 2008, and not 2007, as I had imagined.
Now, for the information about William Gutekunst and Michael LaMena, which I have learned from reliable friends:
William Gutekunst - Bill and his wife live in the East Northport section of Elwood, and they have children in Elwood schools. According to the internet site Linked In, Bill is a Vice President of Medical Solutions Group Inc., which has a regional office located in East Northport. He was one of the organizers of the Elwood Youth/John Glenn HS Wrestling Golf Outing last October, and he serves on the Executive Board of Elwood Youth Wrestling Club. I don't know of any service by Bill on district committees, but Bill's business management experience could be useful for the district.
Michael LaMena - Mike is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and spent one year teaching at Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx. He spent fourteen years as an executive at Morgan Stanley before joining HighTower Advisors, where he serves as Chief Operating Officer. Mike and his wife live in the Huntington section of Elwood, and they have three young children; one friend believes that the one child of school age is at Harley. I don't know of any service by Mike on district committees, but Mike's experience with financial activities and hands-on executive experience in operations management could also be useful for the district.
Undoubtedly over the next few weeks we will all hear from each of the five candidates, one of whom we clearly know well and favorably already.
Jerry Hannon
