Comment Rescue: School Bored Elections
Joanne Christian was 100% correct to call me out on this topic. I even got a call last night on my cell phone to vote last night, but I hadn;t done any homework on the candidates and I was in a rush to get to soccer practice.
Hi Gang–It’s been a long time–but I can clarify–the post office investigation is resolving–the post office admits full responsibility for the mishandling/disappearance of my mail. I am awaiting some sort of calculated reimbursement, when lo and behold there’s been a reassignment of duties and this case….I’ll be happy to follow up with you as the situation unfolds….how good of you to remember!!!
But on another note–shame on all you Delaware political bloggers for not one mere mention of school board elections today!!!! If ever there is a pure public service that you can VOTE on without the entanglement of partisanship–a school board election is just that–one of the largest budget items, and reflection of community values that we truly have a say in…If it is true that “all politics is local”….you “enlightened” bloggers have been derelict in your esteemed pulpits of civic responsibility by not reminding nor directing readership to the polls today. But no–we’ll wait until a “bigger office seeker” blows by with some canned plan for education, and funding…and solutions…because we weren’t paying enough attention locally to know our schools’ strengths and weaknesses–before abdicating to the state fairy godmother (father) to make it all better. You have a grass roots chance to cast a vote deciding your local school district’s future direction–and I wonder how many of you squandered that privilege by not showing up at the polls–but by gosh will autopsy every word a party candidate spews about educational reform that is broad based, overused, and populist.
Congratulations to Edna Cale and Julie Johnson of Appoquinimink for their local school board victories, and the much anticipated dedicated, local service they will perform. Congratulations to all the Delaware district winners tonite—and thank you to all who cared enough to run…and cared enough to vote. I think I’m done now…here help me move this soapbox….thanks!!!
I should have written the post. I live in Red Clay, and did spend a lot of time reading and commenting on Kilroy’s and Fix Red Clay. I also campaigned for the two newbies, Davis and Woods – who won! BIG!
Sorry, Joanne. You are correct. We dropped the ball.
Er…uh…Jason…was “School Bored” a Freudian slip or a genuine typo? 😀
So much for non-partisanship. If that’s so I wonder why Appoquinimick candidate Karen Forsten used a robo-call service that is associated with the republican party.
Outside,
Now that’s a juicy tip. Anything else to add to that story?
I have a family connection to the administration that prevent me from writing about it on my own blog, but to expand on Pandora’s comment here: the 3-1 margins of victory in Red Clay (with nearly 2,500 voting in elections that usually don’t get 700) is a direct message to the board, especially as the voters knocked out a board member who has been there since 1981 and was–if I am not mistaken–the longest serving school board member in the entire state.
Financial accountability and transparency were the two big issues, and on those at least the DE blogs left right and center all seem to be in agreement.
Probably not, Mike, except that OO always seems to throw the RD8 $h*t at the fan at any opportunity.
Dr. Christian, heal thyself.
I was on the Appoquinimink website several times in the past few weeks trying to find info on the elections and always had to go to google to find it. No link on the homepage, no bio’s on the candidates, nothing.
Are we just supposed to go out and vote for the person with the most signs? How about on the color themes that they select for their signs?
Perhaps I was supposed to go out and conduct an interview with each of the candidates over the course of the past few weeks.
I had a post in the queue for the school board elections, and it was half complete when I realized that there was no info out there. I suspect that this is the reason that Kansas has had so many problems with their boards.
Eesh…I was over the top…at least what I was thinking and didn’t print, I was. Apologies to OO, but you do often come with an anti-R slant when the focus is on RD-8, rumor or otherwise.
Mike, you admit you go to the GOP HQ often enough, and you certainly allow yourself to be a magnet for GOP info. I would think you would recognize the last name of Forsten and the state GOP. It’s a no-brainer about the access to the robodialer. I wouldn’t really look at it as a scandal. Personally, I am not a robo-dialer fan, but that may be the biggest part of the non-story…did people dislike it, or did they not care?
School Board elections should be held at the same time as other elections. Right now it’s a numbers game. Few people vote, so if a candidate can round up 200 – 300 extra votes they win.
Also, polling times are crazy. 10am – 8pm. Many people prefer to vote on their way to work. How many, after a long day, simply skip or forget?
Also, school boards are very powerful. The public, especially those without children, don’t realize how much school boards effect their lives and their property values.
And, LG, you’re correct. Finding info on district websites is difficult. I’m beginning to think it’s deliberate.
Randy – –
Option three: clever pun. Granted, puns are hard to spot in my work through the blizzard of typos.
Yeah, and Woods is in the sheet-metal union, the source for such stellar public servants as Tom Sharp, the biggest thug to serve in the General Assembly in my lifetime at least. Gee, I wonder what party he’s in?
Crap…Jason. Hold my hand, I don’t get it. Damn these sleepless nights!!!!!
Steve: Why couldn’t you write it and acknowledge your point of view? I think most folks are smart enough to process your opinion as seen through your filter. Not to speak for others, but I’d rather have a biased view than none at all.
Perhaps he is afraid of the backlash from the administration.
RSmitty,
I didn’t take offense to your comment. FWIW, I would have posted about a dem robo-dialer if that had happened. I just thought it was a little funny Ms. Christian commented on school board elections being non-partisan when in fact most of them are not. In my humble opinion, of course.
Ahh! Clever Pun on the use of BORED! GOT IT!
Only took a couple of hours, too!
Admittedly, Jason and I had a go-around about this back in our “Frightland” days when he and I were at fevered pitches about his blind-blind-paritsanship. Ah…good times.
If I recall correctly, and I could be mistaken, he wanted people to identify D or R (or other) as school board candidates. Of course, that was then. Don’t know what his take is now.
At least then you would have something to go on…
I don’t know, Geek. I think I know why you are saying that (you having cited a lack of information), but I wouldn’t want to know a sch0ol board candidate’s party.
A candidate’s party can sometimes reveal their ideology. For example, Republicans tend to be pro-charter school and pro-choice. Two areas that the Red Clay School Board has brought to the forefront and has created a lot of heated debate.
Al,
The problem is not the bias of my viewpoint; the issue is one of avoiding divorce by not compromising someone else.
Ahh… Say no more, Steve. The proverbial rock and a hard place. Understood.
I don’t understand what anyone thinks they mean by use of the term “partisanship” when it comes to school board elections. Candidates for school board all have their “issues,” just like any other election. Party labels aren’t used, I believe, because the legislature wants voters (to the extent there are any) to focus on the issues instead of the party labels. Julie Johnson’s husband is running for the State House in November. Should we claim it partisan that she blanketed the district with signs that say “Johnson” just a few months before the election? I don’t think so. Should we be upset if she used her husband’s connections to the local democratic party to help get voters out? I don’t think so. As long as people are focusing on the issues, I don’t think it matters. But, I think that if you started putting party labels on the ballot, folks would start voting based on party rather than on the issues that the candidates have. With purely local issues and concerns like the school board, it’s more important to focus on those rather than worry about party label.
Steve: Gotcha. I hate when that happens.
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