Looking For New Candidates
This Spring’s Onteora election has just shaped up to be another doozie. We appreciate freshly-resigned Board President Ralph Legnini’s letter of explanation for his move, printed in the letters column a few pages ahead of this editorial, even while we worry about the use of such frustrated means in the political sphere.
As Legnini points suggests, there are many who wish we could finally get beyond the divisiveness that has rocked our school district for far too many years. From what we’ve heard, the latest problems arose not because of old traditions battling new ideas, as occurred with the mascot issue, or singular town tax arrangements versus larger municipal concerns, as some have boiled the Large Parcel issue down to. It didn’t even have to do with any threats of school closures, or the avoidance of harsh restructuring plans, that pitched everyone against each other last year. It had to do with the simple back and forth involved in governance.
Oh well.
Our hope, now, is that the high-minded fashion in which Legnini left the board, whether you like it or not, be matched with idealized candidacies that reflect the goals he tried bringing to the board… for unity, harmony, and getting beyond our minor differences.
We are asking that those who choose to run do so based on real issues involving what we want to see Onteora be, and not just what we hope it won’t become. Candidates running for the votes of everyone in the wide district, and not just against other constituencies.
The issues that have dominated us in past election cycles are largely moot now. The consolidation plan of last year, with its massive bonding needs tied to the creation of a middle school less than half our residents wanted, seems tone deaf to our current economic times. Worries about the Large Parcel issue seem unfounded. Attempts to lower tax loads based on mass firings at one of our last steadfast bastions of employment seems poorly timed.
How about candidates who want to bring about new programs, work with those board members who will still be with us for at least another year or two, and provide direction for our relatively new administrators?
There are tough times ahead but also, with all the talk of stimulus packages and needed infrastructure repairs, some true glimmers of hope.
How about having candidates for the Onteora board, this time around, who reach out to all our towns, all our school district’s constituents and “stakeholders,” and have some constructive ideas for what needs to be done now.
I’m sure we can do this. After all, we HAVE done it before.
PS