Thank God for the San Mateo Daily Journal. If it was not for them, I would never have known that the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District Board decided on their own how and by whom they will be elected (“San Mateo-Foster City examines election overhaul” in the Jan. 15 edition of the Daily Journal). Yes, without a lawsuit or any pressure from constituents, the board is quietly changing how their elections will be conducted in the future. The district will be adopting the most effective way to reduce your influence and voting power by going to district elections, the left’s most effective tool to divide and conquer.
You have to ask yourself why is the board doing this when no one is asking for it. Our current board is comprised mostly of minorities so it can’t be due to race. Our district has such diversity that no one seems to be harmed by the existing at-large system. The reason is that district elections diminishes the individuals voting power and influence. By going to district voting, the board will be cutting your voting power and therefore your influence by 80 percent. Where you used to be able to vote for all five board members, you now can only vote for one.
I have no idea whether the board can make this decision without voter approval. I do know that most people in my community have no comprehension what this even means or any idea this is even taking place. Public input into public-school decisions demands this power grab get a ton of scrutiny and then solidly rejected.
Chris, a true conservative wants LOCAL control as close to the grass roots as possible. To think that we are losing our vote in telling other neighborhoods how they should run their area is 'half glass half full/empty' logic. I think San Mateo and Burlingame would be well served by a similar practice. We see better and more energetic campaigning and more grass roots democracy at work here. True conservatism.
So taking the power away from voters is a good thing. Sorry Mike, if history is any indicator, district elections causes divisiveness, poor representation and special interests to have more sway over decisions. Just look at SF and you will know what I mean.
I'll certainly agree that SF elections have gotten far more 'colorful' with district elections. That's a good thing. Democracy is by nature contentious and a bit messy. We've been dealing with that since the Greeks. Still the better mode.
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Chris, a true conservative wants LOCAL control as close to the grass roots as possible. To think that we are losing our vote in telling other neighborhoods how they should run their area is 'half glass half full/empty' logic. I think San Mateo and Burlingame would be well served by a similar practice. We see better and more energetic campaigning and more grass roots democracy at work here. True conservatism.
So taking the power away from voters is a good thing. Sorry Mike, if history is any indicator, district elections causes divisiveness, poor representation and special interests to have more sway over decisions. Just look at SF and you will know what I mean.
I'll certainly agree that SF elections have gotten far more 'colorful' with district elections. That's a good thing. Democracy is by nature contentious and a bit messy. We've been dealing with that since the Greeks. Still the better mode.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.