Updated: More Drama In School Board Elections
Can we just skip all this and move these elections to November? Pretty please?
Via Nichole Dobo:
A complaint was filed today with the state Department of Elections against a Delaware political action committee that’s been sending fliers to voters about at least two school board candidates.
The complaint was filed by state Rep. John Kowalko, New Castle County Councilwoman Lisa Diller and Christina school board member Shirley Saffer. Saffer is running for re-election. The mailings were sent by Voices 4 Delaware Education, which is identified on mailings as an “action fund.”
The complaint asks the department of elections to investigate if the mailings meet requirements of state law, and if the PAC has filed the proper paperwork with the state.
Oops! Looks like there was confusion with that paperwork: “Soon after the complaint was filed, a representative of the group told the state Department of Elections that PAC paperwork was mistakenly filed under the wrong name.”
Let me close with words of wisdom from Joanne Christian:
For me, the shenanagins played this year in school board elections makes me want to send out my own darn flyer and robocall.
What infuriates me the most is the MONEY being spent backing ALL of these candidates INDIVIDUALLY, who collectively (w/ very rare exception) have no idea of the limited scope of power a school board has, and no experience of any district involvement.
These lofty claims of being the “answer” for any district, falls real flat when the reality is they become one vote on one Tuesday night a month.
The real key is TIME. How many of these folks are willing to put the TIME into serving not only the board, but EVERY committee asked of you from your school district and Dover. That’s the journey. Being at the discussion, table, summit, fact finding, task force and ad hoc opportunity to vet these think tanks and brain storming sessions, and cry FOUL real loud, when you see impending doom. You need to translate that back to your board or super for affirmation up or down. Sometimes it works–sometimes it doesn’t. What truly concerns me going forward w/ what I’ve seen–the aphrodisiac of groups spending money on you, and mailers sent w/ your picture on it–is made of the same stuff as false platitudes from Dover leadership folks, or private/corporate ed hacks. And they get a paycheck. You won’t. If you choose to spend your free time advocating, or giving tacit approval for the many wrongs in education today then keep agreeing to the fliers, and courting your “supposed” support. They don’t know you from Adam, but are getting to know your soul–and soon they will own it. Until the next election.
Remember candidates—these groups ARE NOT your constituency. The residents, citizens and children are your base. I cringe to think of donated money, and PACs and funding and how much I could have done with any of that money being directed to a classroom instead of a hyperinflated, overstated, overselling lit piece of a newbie dressed up as a magic bullet. Isn’t that part of what’s gotten us into all this trouble in the first place?
School Board candidates could learn much from Joanne Christian. Hopefully they’ll pay attention and follow her advice. Honestly, this school board election is an embarrassment.
UPDATE: John Kowalko’s Press Release:
Lawmakers Join School Board Member Requesting Investigation by Department of Elections
State Representative John Kowalko and County Councilwoman Lisa Diller have joined Christina School Board member Shirley Saffer in demanding an investigation into the activities of Voices 4 Delaware Education Action Fund regarding the upcoming school board elections. Questions have been raised by Ms. Saffer and the lawmakers concerning required criteria lacking in identifying Fund officers, and reporting requirements in addition to questions regarding the legitimacy of the pieces as independent issue pieces. Please see the attached letter sent to the Department of Elections by Councilwoman Diller and Representative Kowalko.
Representative Kowalko said, “This type of excessive spending intrudes into the autonomy of an election and erodes the process of fairness. The fact that candidates in school board elections are aspiring to a difficult, unpaid and often thankless job of policy making on behalf of public education leaves no room for well-heeled special interests to impose their agendas and manipulate public perception”.
Tags: Education
I guess certain parties see a school board sat as a stepping stone to other elective office.
I’m not sure… I think I read somewhere that school board members are conservators of the peace or something.
School Board candidates could learn much from Joanne Christian. Hopefully they’ll pay attention and follow her advice.
You mean announce they are not running?
(kidding, Joanne… 🙂 )
LG – LOL. Only in Sussex.
This election stinks to high heaven. Hop on over to Transparent Christina to see Voices 4 Delaware latest offering.
Not exactly conservators of the peace…
I’m in Christina and casting my vote for anyone who is NOT on the flyer I got from Voices4Delaware today. And I’m asking my neighbors to do the same.
What’s amazing is how clueless Voices4Delaware is about how to win school board elections. It’s a numbers game, meaning… keep your mouth shut, court past voters and come up with 300-400 new voters. That’s it!
I can’t believe they’re drawing attention and making people – who wouldn’t have voted! – sit up and take notice.
Personally, I’d love to see school board elections get better turn-out. Thanks, Voices! My email box is filling up with previous disinterested voters wondering what’s going on.
In the hot off the presses edition of Delaware Business, the State Chamber of Commerce magazine, there’s an article by Rich Heffron, the Chamber’s senior VP and legislative/political guru, that mentions low turnout at board elections, then laments the growing efforts of special interest groups trying to influence the outcome of the elections.
Heffron’s solution: “the leaders of our business community need to identify good candidates, recruit them to run, and assist them with their campaigns. Furthermore, they must instill in their employees the importance of school board elections, encourage them to participate in campaigns, and vote.”
In Heffron’s book, anyway, the businesses that pay to have the Chamber represent their special interests are not special interests when it comes to school board elections.
I suspect that some of us might disagree.
OMG–is time again for Haley’s Comet? Moi on a Delaware Liberal post? Hey does anyone want to underwrite my lit piece and robocall I want to trumpet for ethical and responsible decision making in school board selection? 🙂 !!!!
http://transparentchristina.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/colorado-money-comes-into-delaware-political-election-processes/
Wow – we have it easy down here. We have an involved mother of three who’s been doing things in the schools and community going against a Sandi Minard clone with a beard and testes. Pretty clear choice for us.
Why is the Working Families Party sending out literature? I’m sick of all this in the school board elections and I’m not voting for anyone who has any of these organizations funneling money their way.
Working Families is a DSEA PAC. Everybody plays.
Comment by MJ on 2 May 2012 at 6:44 pm:
Wow – we have it easy down here. We have an involved mother of three who’s been doing things in the schools and community going against a Sandi Minard clone with a beard and testes. Pretty clear choice for us.
Really? You’re backing the woman whose family business systematically discriminates against gays?
Everybody playing needs a big time out!
Phil, if you’re referring to the Summerhouse incident, I don’t believe the story told by the two “victims.” My partner and I have never had any problems when we’ve gone there in the past few years.
And please, share your “proof” of this “systematic discrimination.” You know Phil, you spout a lot of bullshit on here, and now you’re being called on it.
All this PAC stuff also makes me marvel at the wonderfully syrupy goodness of the naming of PACs
Working Families of Delaware
Voices 4 Delaware Education
both sound so innocent and pure……
Here are links to all flyers sent thus far for those interested:
http://transparentchristina.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/hold-the-presses-voices-4-delaware-education-fails-to-mention-shirley-saffer/
http://transparentchristina.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/brand-new-player-in-delaware-education-makes-their-debut/
http://transparentchristina.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/if-you-ever-doubted-why-the-big-money-is-coming-at-csd-doubt-no-more/
http://transparentchristina.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/mommymommy-look-someone-who-has-come-to-three-school-board-meetings-sent-me-my-report-card/
http://transparentchristina.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/voices-4-delaware-education-action-fund-sends-another-dirty-coded-message-to-influence-school-board-race/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/91282987/ValHarrisMailer103#fullscreen
I have gotten all the mail in this Red Clay election and it all stinks….. a lot of blah, blah on education and slick mailers.
What a waste of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
“Heffron’s solution: ‘the leaders of our business community need to identify good candidates, recruit them to run, and assist them with their campaigns. Furthermore, they must instill in their employees the importance of school board elections, encourage them to participate in campaigns, and vote.'”
I’d prefer the business community not school me on civics and instead concentrate on increasing my wages and improving my benefits. And my guess is that the candidates they would recruit would somehow be better for that business than the students.
Red Clay candidates have actually behaved themselves – at least the mailers I’ve received have been positive, issue orientated pieces that do not attack their opponent.
Know what that tells me? It tells me that the Red Clay candidates made clear that they wouldn’t tolerate any negative attacks. Yeah, yeah I know they aren’t supposed to have any contact with the PAC, but messages do get through – (I keep thinking of that Colbert episode with Jon Stewart running his PAC) and this is Delaware.
Which is why I think Val Harris owns these mailers, and why I think they will end up hurting her. After all, no matter who made up these mailers it’s her face on the front.
Hello? Politics 101: you really can’t do a hit piece and a promotion piece in one mailer and expect the candidate pictured on the mailer to not be associated with the negativity. Sorry, doesn’t work that way.
I live in Red Clay and haven’t received any flyers about this election. If it weren’t for Pandora’s blog with the interviews and a backer of one of the candidates personally handing me a flyer I probably wouldn’t know there was a school board election.
Pandora, a change (dot) org petition for Election transparency has been started on the Voices 4 Delaware Education Action Fund
http://www.change.org/petitions/transparency-in-delaware-school-board-elections