Baraboo News Republic: April 14, 2009 http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/opinion/446931
Last week, Baraboo School Board member Patty Spragg, who had served the district for a quarter century, was narrowly defeated in the spring election.
I had always imagined Patty to be a bit like the Sandra Day O'Connor of the school board: At times unpredictable in her voting, but always consistent in her ability to reason. As a district parent, I didn't agree with every one of her votes, but I respected her intellect and her even-handedness. Patty approached every vote with independent eyes and dissected decisions in the way only a C.P.A. can. And she was never, ever, in anyone's pocket.
So while it's sad to see Patty go, it's just as disconcerting that the candidate who edged her out by 40-something votes, Ray Borkenhagen, seems to be in league with an ad hoc political party that now has two of its candidates on the board.
The group, Citizens For Fiscal Responsibility, formed during the district's first referendum attempt in early 2006. Its members at that time included Ed Mortimer, who was elected to the board last spring, as well as John Meegan and Ed Borski, who supported both Mortimer and Borkenhagen in their runs for office. Campaign organization, of course, is necessary and expected if one wants to win.
The problem with a single-platform political party pushing candidates at the local level, however, is that it brings all of the downsides of a regional or national campaign to a school board race. Smear tactics, negative platforms, personal attacks, we've seen it all in the last two board elections, and almost all of it originated from CFFR members or their supporters.
Most recently, after a drawn-out debate over Mortimer's requests for copies of huge volumes of district records and refusal to tell fellow board members what they were for, board VP Judd Maxwell fired off an e-mail to Mortimer. It was seeped with frustration over Mortimer's lack of communication with the board and administrators, and accused him of feeding information to his supporters so they could include it in letters to the editor.
It was sarcastic, and Maxwell could have done better and probably would have, had he known that, like a note passed in middle school, the e-mail would itself be fed to CFFR President John Meegan and end up in a letter to the editor. Doesn't that seem odd?
Why would a school board member of one year need a talking head to do his dirty work for him? Why, instead of communicating directly with a fellow board member (as Maxwell however imperfectly tried to do) would Mortimer have Meegan respond for him, through the Mailbag?
Because political parties are constantly seeking election and focusing on smearing opponents, even if in this case they're your neighbors and people you have to work with for the remainder of your term, like fellow board members and administrators. It's hard, in that frame of mind, to focus much on board business or positive communication. Which begs the question, how does all of this serve us, the taxpayers and constituents?
I don't know Ray Borkenhagen, though he has raised reasonable questions in a fairly reasonable, if sometimes fuming, way. I hope that along with his concerns about administrator compensation, which many district voters obviously share with him, he brings to the board a willingness to listen. I also congratulate Sean McNevin on his victory and, more important, on taking the high road and sticking to the issues in his campaign. That the voters awarded him with the most votes surely speaks to their approval. I look forward to seeing both board members-elect fully participate in the governance and improvement of our fine district.
We deserve candidates and current board members who can think and speak for themselves. Who are serving their constituents and not their party bosses. Who don't need talking heads to do their dirty work on the pages of the paper or on their club Web site.
And we would all benefit if every new board member strived be a little more like Sandra Day O'Connor, or Patty Spragg not tethered to special interests, learning to be a deciding vote without being divisive, and weighing the facts before forming their opinions. Of course, Patty had 25 years to master that balance. She will be missed.
Christina Beam is a former education reporter for the News Republic. She can be reached at christina@christinabeam.com