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To the editor:
There was a time, a generation or so ago when it probably wasn't particularly important which candidates for public office were elected.
That applied to nationwide elections but more especially to local ones: Mayor. City Council. School Board. Voters could be comforted by the belief that everyone running for any office could be counted on to share their values; everyone was generally on the same page, headed in the same direction.
They only differed in the means to get there.
Unfortunately, those days are behind us. Now we're increasingly facing individuals seeking power who may be diametrically opposed to our core long-held beliefs. And if elected, they have the real possibility of radically changing things we value and have taken for granted. And because this movement towards divisiveness evolved slowly, people didn't pay as much attention to elections and the candidates as they should have, especially on the local level.
The Near North School Board is a case in point.
The controversy over the possible renaming of Chippewa has focused attention on it, but regardless of how that issue is finally resolved, the process should hopefully have awakened an awareness in voters that it is vitally important to pay attention to the activities and agenda of that board.
Since I no longer live in the North Bay area, I'll not comment on the board in general. (Their vote on the school-renaming issue will most certainly reveal the direction of their thinking) . There may well be responsible and conscientious members who are committed to improving the educational experience of the community, rather than some personal agenda.
The Board's chairperson, however, has made public statements that should cause concern from those who look to this body to wisely monitor the education of the next generation. For one, she has gone on record as saying that "people who have signed the petition may not have a full understanding of the issue," an arrogant inference that people who signed that petition lacked the sufficient intellectual capacity to comprehend what is at stake!
As another example, in her self-description on Twitter, she confesses to being a fan of socialism. It would seem to me that a statement admitting to being an aficionado of the same system espoused by Marx and Lenin should be a red flag. That she was nonetheless elected would indicate that knowing the candidates who are running clearly deserves more voter attention.
The process of school renaming should hopefully have awakened an awareness that it is vitally important to pay attention. Voters need to research and vote for candidates that will prioritize the basic skills of education. It is more important than ever to have representation on the local school boards that would protect children and the curriculum from some woke ideology.
Ian Saunders
