Letter to Hillsborough Residents, October 12, 2009

By Steven M. Koury

This is a letter mailed from candidate Steven M. Koury to most residences in Hillsborough on October 12, 2009.

Thank you to my wonderful wife and children (Kimberly, Hannah and Joey) for their invaluable help in folding letters and stuffing, sealing, stacking the roughly three thousand envelopes!

October 12, 2009

Dear Neighbor;

One of our town treasures is the Hillsborough City School District, governed by five elected Board Members. One Incumbent, Mary Ellen Benninger, is seeking reelection whereas Shawn Christianson and Julie Borden are not. I am writing to introduce myself as a candidate for one of the open seats and to ask for your vote.

I bring to the position a 24-year career in finance and banking, in New York and San Francisco, helping private and public entities find solutions to funding and investment needs. Roughly half my career has been with JP Morgan as Vice President in the Investment Bank. I am the only candidate with a broad background in finance, expertise that will be crucial on the Board as the District copes with the State's financial crisis and uncertain school funding.

I attended public schools growing up -- graduating from Gunn High School in Palo Alto. I have a Bachelor of Science degree magna cum laude in International Finance from San Francisco State University, and an advanced Certificate in Finance with honors from University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

As a West and now Crocker parent I have been an active volunteer. For instance, I served on the Executive Board of the West Parent Group as Treasurer for two years (2007-2009). While I was Treasurer, due to effective communications and a streamlined process, we achieved essentially 100% family participation in contributions. I also enjoy working with kids directly in youth sports. As an AYSO soccer coach for many years, and CYSA team manager, I've interacted with many Hillsborough families.

Communitywide, I currently serve on the Citizens Oversight Committee charged with overseeing the multi-million dollar construction expenditures of Measure B bond funds. On this committee I have worked closely with our School Board, Superintendent, and District Staff. During the past several years our School Board and Administration have rightly focused on this $66.8 million investment in new buildings and renovations on all campuses. Now, with the building projects essentially behind us, it is time to refocus on curriculum and educational programs, to ensure that we are offering the best and appropriately challenging programs. I believe I can make a positive contribution to this process, as well as helping to figure out how to pay for it.

I am honored to have received endorsements from parent and community leaders. I ask for your support, and would welcome talking to you if you have any questions. My contact information is listed below. You can also view a bit more information about me on my view simple website created for this purpose: http://www.stevenkoury.com.

Yours Sincerely,

Steven M. Koury 60 Rowan Tree Lane, Hillsborough, CA 94010 Telephone: 581-1688 Email: koury@mac.com

--Attached to this letter was a current ENDORSEMENT list. That list can be found separately in the endorsement section of this website.