Decaturish has done us all a favor and taped and posted video from last night’s School Board candidates forum. Candidates Mark Arnold, Lewis Jones and unopposed candidate Annie Caiola were all in attendance.
Check it out HERE!
Latest from Decaturish
Daydreamer
Daydreamer
Cubalibre
J_T
csheffie
FM Fats
phototrekker
MBAERO
Michael
FM Fats
Marla (of the tiara …
Marla (of the tiara …
Zed
GreenTea
J_T
This photo certainly captures the religious fervor with which we discuss school issues.
we’re fortunate to have such high quality candidates for the Board.
thanks for posting this.
I love the way that Annie Caiola, who has no opponent for the at-large seat, put as much energy and preparation into this forum as the two candidates who are vying for the contested seat. She didn’t even have to be there. As long as she votes for herself, she wins. That level of effort and commitment bodes well for her service on the Board. I’m feeling optimistic about the new Board.
+1
Thanks Ish. Nice pic and thanks for taping the forum. I also enjoyed meeting you and was somewhat surprised by your deep Southern roots. Almost always a sign of good character.
But back to the picture and the influence of religion in Decatur elections. Ms. Caiola is the only Decatur candidate in memory who mentioned church affiliation on her campaign website. I don’t recall any other candidate in recent memory doing this. I don’t attend many commission or board meetings but for those who do, have you ever heard anything mentioned about the influence of faith? I do recall that years ago, the commission began the meetings with a moment of silence, something that is done at the start of the school day (for some students and teachers, a time for prayer but for most, just more time for talking, sleeping or for teachers, last second shuffle of notes before the show). In my preparation to moderate the forum, I had almost thirty questions to consider and one was about faith. Something like “Please discuss the influence of faith in your life and how your faith will guide you as a board member” and “Do you see the protection of religious liberty for students and teachers as an important part of your responsibilities as a member of the board”. The question was dropped, primarily to narrow down the number of questions but also because of other concerns.
Anyway a good turnout for the forum. Candidates did a great job. They still have a lot of work to do to motivate people to vote. Looking forward to the robocalls, flyers in the mail, supporter lists, and those crazy fans on the day of the election, 100 feet from the polling sites, waving their signs and happy faces. I love local politics!
Re: “I love local politics!”. Me too. My first choice would be the Town Meeting form of local government. Second choice is what we’ve got, the more candidates, the merrier.
Someday I will run for office just so you can ask me those questions about faith and religion. And it will be awesome.
you have my vote.
Mr. Billingsley, it was nice to meet you, too. Call me any time. I’d love to get your thoughts about what’s going on in Decatur.