The three-for-two race in the Hastings Area School System offers voters 2 quality choices and 1 chump. We have incumbent Terry McKinney and challengers Tammy Pennington and Jeff Guenther seeking the two open seats. Incumbent Mike Huber is not seeking another term. Pennington and Guenther both are quality candidates and deserve to be elected over the incumbent.
Pennington has been director of the Commission on Aging for two decades and her commitment to the community is unquestioned. She’s been through a few scrapes during her tenure at the COA, but who hasn’t in a job that at times gets very political? I don’t always agree with her, but I would never question her integrity nor her ability to make good decisions on behalf of children.
Guenther, the son of a former Hastings superintendent, has remained in the community and has been a loyal employee for the sometimes difficult Hastings Manufacturing Co., now undergoing restructuring. Guenther has a winning way with people and he has a good sense of finances. You might say his inside peek at the goings-on at Hastings Manufacturing has provided him a training ground on how to do more with less.
McKinney has been a massive disappointment, mostly because of his attitude and lack of understanding of serious human rights issues. His most egregious offense came three years ago when the board interviewed six candidates for superintendent. McKinney publicly said he liked William Skilling from Byron Center, despite the very public information made known that Skilling was one of the architects in the scandalous inhumane treatment of gay music teacher Gerry Crane. Skilling, a right-wing Christian of the lowest order and principal at Byron Center at the time Crane was being hounded from his job, once threatened Crane with outright firing if he was caught promoting tolerance. During Skilling’s interview with the Hastings board, he told the seven members he had “no regrets” about what he did in the notorious affair, which ended with the sudden and unexpected death of Crane from a heart attack at the age of 32. How can anyone have “no regrets” in assessing such a horrible story, a crime against humanity? Skilling looked and acted a lot like one of those protesters from Topeka at military funerals. Yet McKinney expressed support for this neo-Nazi and for this he deserves to be shown the door. Hastings voters would do well to send a message to him and all other homophobic types that this kind of attitude and behavior will not be tolerated in public education and in a free society.
Otherwise, the other interesting race is in Caledonia, where incumbent Ken Yonker and newcomer Walt Fish are the best bets over the four paranoid swine also on the ballot. The public lynching of Superintendent Wes VanDenburg is over now and the fearsome foursome can all take their pitchforks and torches back home with them.
InDelton, Elizabeth Matteson is a quality board member on a board that needs to work on proper procedures of instilling public confidence.
Lakewood is almost hopeless, a community that is clueless about exactly what has created its problems, a district long divided over decades. Some observers have called it “Bosnia,” and not without good reason. Don’t be surprised if the new superintendent doesn’t last very long.
It isn’t easy to serve on a school board these days. State government is starving our public schools to death and the federal government is imposing programs that set them up to fail so they eventually can be privatized. All of this while the public was asleep at the wheel. Good luck, boys and girls, you certainly will need it.
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8 comments:
Yawn...I see why you call that a school "bored" article.
Pol Watcher...why are you giving us cereal when we want red meat? What about the prosecutor race?...your silence on this subject is deafening.
You know as well as I, that Julie was "annointed". By not opposing this action you are in bed with Shane (yuk)...deep tonsils
Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Silver.........Are all the candidates on Board yet? Tom Evans and Julie Pratt are the only two I know of, so far. "Yuk" is right, Pol Watcher doesn't deserve such garbage! Write your own stuff about it! Annointed, Yes! Not qualified is a tuff one?? My problem is the annointment process gave us an "incumbent candidate" with not enough time to be much more than a candidate campaigning, she has to. Not enough time to prove herself as "The" Prosecutor. Not big shoes to fill though!!!!!!!!! Have not found anyone that has anything bad to say about her. They say she was a good Prosecutor, so was Tom Evans. Tough decision! Yes, annointment BAD. In this case, though, appears "they" put a decent and qualified person in there. I intend to
try and evaluate on their job qualifications and try not to let the annointment process affect me! It's hard, YES! Here's a carrot, go munch on that!
Anonymous,
That's the trick isn't it? Put someone in place just long enough to gain the advantage of being the incumbent and not enough of a track record for an opponent to pick apart. Best of both worlds as far as the 'annointed' one is concerned.
Pol,
I tried to submit this comment a few days ago and I haven't seen it yet so....here it is again:
Tom also applied for the prosecutor's position (as did at least 5 others) and was not chosen. I feel that Judge Fisher consulted with many other individuals (judges, attorney’s, etc.) about this appointment. Why was Tom not chosen? Do we even know why Tom was fired? I do not believe it was for political reasons. If you are such a Tom supporter FOIA his personnel records and see what you get.
Yes Julie has only been in office for a short time but I don't see her at many events campaigning. Tom is everywhere. Doesn't he have a job? Julie is obviously working hard and Tom is hardly working.
I have heard that everyone within the prosecutor’s office is very pleased with Julie and the changes she has made. Tom seems to have a sketchy work history and doesn't provide solid employment dates (this is according to his website).
I think we all need to give Julie a fair chance. Simply because she deserves it. I don’t see anyone looking past her appointment to what she is actually doing. It isn’t fair to discard her because of the way in which she obtained the position.
I have to wonder if Pol left my thoughts out because he is a Tom supporter? Is Pol an equal opportunity Blogger?
I forgot to add….This entire “anointment” is a catch 22…Damned if you do campaign…Damned if you don’t
I can't recall the Pol supporting anyone for Prosecutor? As for FOIA and Tom Evans, trust me, political can turn your personnel record into shambles. However, I have a little problem supporting anyone who was part of the old regime, even if just a bystander. It does seem like a very calmer work atmosphere around the Prosecutors Office now. Ms Pratt is a very nice person. Hope she continues that way if elected, I'm told she will!
We need someone who is more concerned about prosecuting or supervising cases against the criminals invading our homes, cars, and selves, instead of "Who can I get to speak at the next Kiwanis Club Meeting!"
I just found www.retainjulie.com
Ms. Pratt has hung herself out to dry.
Last Holloween the Barry County Sheriff made the years biggest drug bust, netting 32 pounds of dope, illegal weapons, illegal pills, etc... the couple busted had been under investigation since 2002. They both are criminals, he with assault and battery, dui, manufacture and delivery, illegal weapons, etc.. She with non payment of support and retail fraud. They have both been incarcerated, he in both Barry lockup multiple times and Jackson prison, she being just in Barry multiple times. He hasn't worked for a very long time and she earns very little grooming dogs in Hastings yet they have many nice things and multiple cars. the police found dope in thier basement, their Garage, their badroom, their living room, a hidden room under the house, the kitchen, and in both of their vehicles. In other words, this couple has been manufacturing and selling for several years now.
well, Ms. Pratt cut a deal with these two netting him 9 months in Barry Lock up (less than he recieved for this very same thing before and prosecuted under a previous prosecutor) and she recieved probation (less than she recieved for stealing lottery tickets). Ms. Pratt also returned almost EVERYTHING the police had siezed due to being purchased with drug procedes (many thousands of dollars worth).
this is not bad enough, that Ms. Pratt is EXTREMELY easy on major drug crimes, but while waiting for the final sentancing hearing in February, this duo was raided again on January 29th and found to be in possession AGAIN of pills, pot, etc...
Ms. Pratt dismissed or refused (I am not sure) any charges resulting from this last bust claiming it was "too soon" after the first one.
This couple has a long history of law breaking and will return back to it once their respective sentances are complete as they have always done in the past. And with the short (or non existant) sentances given them due to the deal Ms. Pratt offered them, it will be shortly after the election.
Ms. Pratt seems to not concern herself with the quality of life in Barry County and appears to be cultivating votes among criminals. Some time ago, Hastings was voted to be in the top 100 best small towns in the US to live in. Do you think it would be the same today now that Ms. Pratt is giving the OK to drug crimes?
And one last thing. We just had a 13 year old die from illegal drugs over by Gun Lake. Do you really think it would pay the police to put in the effort to find out who provided the drugs to this child? With Ms. Pratt's now proven track record I think not.I believe she should find work else where. I mean since she has removed punishment from criminal acts, any one elected could do no worse so lets go for Evans. Heck, being fired by McNiel is a plus for him anyways.
I have to add this, lol. McNeil represented the woman from the drug crimes above several years ago in a custody action against her exhusband. The husband had (still has) custody of their 3 children and she was trying to get out of paying support. well, Mr. McNeil claimed this woman was so much better of a parent than he was that the children would be far better off with her. this was even though the father is a medical professional without even a traffic ticket, owns his own home, college educated, etc... and she is a convicted criminal, owes money every where, a drop out with a GED, was living with (now married to, lol) a convicted drug trafficer, etc... Bonehead McNeil lost but the point here is that our current prosecutor is cut from the same cloth as far representing the desires and morals of this county as McNeil. A vote for her is just a vote for the continuation of the poor leadership of the past.
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