[Spam] [Vision2020] announcement, w/Top Five

[lfalen]

Keely

I like your spunk and am glad to hear that you will remain vocal. I am generally in agreement with you on education and perhaps 50% of the time otherwise. In any case I admire you for standing up for what you believe.

Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "keely emerinemix" kjajmix1 at msn.com
Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2006 12:28:39 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Spam] [Vision2020] announcement, w/Top Five

> Visionaires,
> 
> After a month or so of reflection, prayer, and talking with my family and a 
> very few good friends, I have decided not to run for re-election to the MSD 
> board of trustees next month.
> 
> While it pains me to feel as though I have to immediately defend my 
> decision, I'm afraid that certain blogmeisters are going to have a field day 
> calling me a liar, a coward, or worse by gleefully reminding you all and 
> anyone else who'll listen that I had said earlier I would definitely run for 
> reelection.  They're right.  I did.
> 
> In a May 2005 post that I wrote shortly after the defeat of the bond, I 
> affirmed that if Moscow remained full of goodhearted people who cared about 
> public schools, I would run again because of the privilege of serving such a 
> community; likewise, I said, if Moscow began to allow flamethrowers and 
> voices of less-than-sterling honesty and integrity to frame the argument, I 
> would run because of the need to speak out against such a faction.  Two 
> points can be gleaned from that post -- one, I will always speak out in 
> defense of public education and against its detractors, and, two, that I 
> would do so by running for reelection and, presumably, getting elected.
> 
> Unfortunately, a couple of weeks after I wrote that, I was involved in a 
> serious automobile wreck, the cause of my present shoulder and other 
> injuries.  And while I'm grateful to be in as good a shape as I am, I know 
> that I am not physically 100 percent.  Beyond that, I've come to see that my 
> perspective on a lot of things has changed, as often happens after a 
> lifechanging event.  Now, almost a year later, I can confidently affirm that 
> while I will always speak and write in defense of public education, I can no 
> longer be effective doing it as a trustee.
> 
> The role of an elected official ought to be, as I explained numerous times 
> during last year's bond campaign, one of advocacy and activism coupled with 
> a dedication to hearing and learning from the people we represent.  There 
> are limitations inherent to public office that make speaking out somewhat 
> difficult, and that appears to be the case in Moscow generally and with MSD 
> in particular.  Try as I might, I can find no reason why an elected trustee 
> should not espouse certain positions relating, for example, to school 
> facilities planning -- and yet my execution of what I think is a primary and 
> obvious expectation of an elected official is the very thing that has made 
> me a target of intense criticism.  I have no fear of criticism and I have 
> learned much from it.  Further, I have changed my views on school facilities 
> substantially in the last three years; in fact, I think it's my willingness 
> to dive into the issue even when it results in my changing my position to be 
> one of the things that not only entitles me but obligates me to speak 
> forcefully about it.  On that -- on the content of my beliefs and in my 
> conduct in expressing them -- my conscience is clear.
> 
> Unfortunately, though, it appears that I can do a better job advocating for 
> MSD from the outside.     I am absolutely committed to continuing to speak 
> out on the facilities issue and on other issues that affect not only public 
> education but the entire community.  I don't like what's happening in 
> Moscow, and it has become increasingly difficult for me to spend what little 
> physical energy I have trying to operate against the flow within the 
> restrictions, genuine or otherwise, of my trusteeship.  The choice, then, is 
> to be a quiet trustee or a vocal non-trustee, and I have chosen the latter.
> 
> I love Vision 2020.  I have been ripped to shreds on this forum, and yet I 
> have been blessed to the point of tears by it as well.  There's not a one of 
> you I wouldn't want to have a beer with, and your support and your criticism 
> have both meant a lot to me.  I'm not in any sense going away or retreating. 
>   On the contrary, I intend to not only stick around but to work as hard as 
> I have worked.  The stakes are high and it's time to refocus my energies, 
> redefine my role, and redouble my efforts to help every child in this 
> district receive the very best education possible.
> 
> I am saddened, in a sense, and also discouraged.  But I'm not defeated.  
> It's a privilege to fight for our schools, and I'm a fighter.  It's time for 
> someone else to fill the trustee position while I continue doing what I do 
> best.  By the way, the filing period began Friday and continues until the 
> 14th; I have no idea if or when anyone will file or would have filed for my 
> seat.  That was not in any way a factor in my decision, and had I run, I'd 
> have run to win and feel confident that I would.
> 
> This has been a tough time for me (pass me a tissue, will you?), and I'd 
> like to end this on an up note.  So -- I welcome your comments and, until 
> then, invite you to experience my TOP FIVE TRUSTEE HIGHLIGHTS: The Most 
> Surreal, Strange, and Just-Plain-Silly Moments in My Trusteeship:
> 
> 1.  The gentleman who went on at some length about the trouble he thinks 
> athletes and cheerleaders apparently cause our community, and then added, 
> "Now, I can tell by looking at you that you were never a cheerleader . . . " 
>   (Ouch.  On the other hand, speech team captain was pretty cool).
> 
> 2.  The woman who confided in me that one of her son's teachers was, she 
> thought, probably a Republican.  "What specific things should I be looking 
> for?" she whispered. (Well, I suppose it'd be bad if he started the day with 
> a small-animal sacrifice . . . ).
> 
> 3.  The man who warned me that he knew I was a "religious person" and so 
> he'd better not ever catch me trying to halt the progress of science, 
> technology, and reason.  (Note to self:  Be more discreet when trying to 
> halt the progress of science, technology, and reason.  People are talking).
> 
> 4.  A friend related the following conversation wherein my name came up:  
> "Well, Keely has a BA."
> "No, no," the other woman insisted.  "It's not her hygiene -- she just talks 
> too much."  (Even someone with a BA in journalism can tell the difference 
> between BO and a legitimate degree . . . )
> 
> 5.  The dear lady who said how wonderful it must be to work with Dr. 
> Donicht, who she thought "has been the best mayor Moscow's ever seen!"  (And 
> believe me, Candis has been a helluva football coach over at the UI as 
> well).
> 
> And, as a bonus, my all-time favorite:  The neighbor who was concerned that 
> her fifth-grade son's health and human sexuality presentation used "the 'P' 
> word" to describe male genitalia.  I confess that I was unsuccessful in 
> forwarding the "let's just call it a 'winkydoodle' " motion on the board.
> 
> Yeah, it's been a great three years -- not easy, not always pleasant, but 
> valuable and enriching.  Now there's a new phase in my life that, I'm sure, 
> will be just as valuable and enriching.  Hopefully with some humor, too . . 
> .
> 
> keely
> 
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