THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996 TAG: 9605030009
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
I have just finished reading Kerry Dougherty's column (Can't care less to elect the best,'' 4/27) and wanted her to know that I agree with her assessment of the turnout for the candidates.
I attended the forum in Portsmouth April 22 and, to be frank, found the ``break'' time (the half hour between the sessions) to be far more informative than the actual question-and-answer period. To watch candidates mingle armed with thousands of political flyers (I've got 10,000 of these to distribute,'' quipped one candidate as he gave his out in groups of three) and no one to give them to is really an education in civics all by itself.
My personal take on the situation is the adage, ``If it ain't broke, don't fix it!'' The electorate had no major problems with appointed school boards. Yes, Virginia Beach had its problems, but it became very clear that no one ``stole'' anything. Not a single School Board member went to Europe with any money or bought a yacht with it! Internal mismanagement, yes; criminal, no.
For those of us in other cities of Hampton Roads, yes we criticize our school boards but we are supposed to criticize our school boards. They are ours. You criticize members of your family but you don't allow anybody else to criticize them, do you? That does not necessarily translate into our wanting them replaced with an ``elected'' body.
It does, however, raise questions in our minds as to who has ``pushed'' this idea and what their agenda could be.
Lastly, for those who worked so diligently to ``create'' this ``electoral opportunity,'' in the words of the infamous voice from the movie ``Field of Dreams'': If we ``hold'' them (school-board elections, candidate forums, etc.), ``they'' will come.
Nah, probably not.
BILLIE M. COOK
Portsmouth, April 27, 1996 by CNB