posted by Mike Madison at 6:00 PM /
Start with this post, which excerpts recent blog posts by School Board candidates Jo Posti and Rob Gardner. Were the other candidates reading? Absolutely. Candidate Electa Boyle, on her own behalf and on behalf of the rest of the "R Team" (Silhol, Remely, and Ostergaard) sent me this [spelling corrected by me, for clarity; this was no doubt written in a hurry]:
Dear Mr. Madison,
We are greatly disappointed in Mr. Gardner’s decision to publish statements which he took out of context and manipulated into negative campaign rhetoric. These were baseless, uncalled for and in direct contradiction to Ms. Posti’s “Going Positive” statements.
The statement by one of us, and referenced by Mr. Gardner, was, “I cannot be sure somebody else won’t go negative.” This comment referred back to the events of two years ago when a group of citizens, not connected to any candidate or campaign, sent out mailers asking people not to vote for certain candidates. Those events evidence the fact that neither we, nor anybody, can control the actions of the populace. Mr. Gardner may not recall those events as he was not actively involved in politics at the time, but Ms. Posti should remember the events well.
The R Team does not spend funds on negative campaigning because it is in direct conflict with our core values. Outside influences did not lead us to this decision. It is who we are. You’re welcome to review our campaign literature as evidence of our good faith. There is no R Team flier, handout, web-page, or any other information, final or draft, which is negative. If Mr. Gardner and Ms. Posti are experiencing undue pressure from their “backers” to go negative, we encourage them to resist. Fortunately, we have not had to deal with this type of pressure.
The attempt by Mr. Gardner to mask his own negativity by trying to portray the R Team as negative is unconstructive and misleading. We will not be forced into a war of words with any candidates. We will continue to run our campaign based on our strengths of professional experience and integrity. These will prove to be the best way to lead our District forward.
Best regards,
The R Team
Alan Silhol
Dan Remely
Dale Ostergaard
Electa Boyle
Labels: mt. lebanon school board
3 Comments:
I find it curious that you felt the need to edit Ms. Boyle's response since it was "written in a hurry".
Politicians who act in haste should be responsible for the consequences.
A. Kleinbart
Bower Hill Rd.
One of toughest things to learn is when the last "." is enough and to just stop. I have yet to fully master the skill, myself.
While Responsive in their view, the last paragraph of the R Team's statement was unnecessary. It was not Responsible to call out what they see as Mr. Gardner's "negativity" - - stay on message kids. It was also not Respectful to commandeer his team's message of moving MTLSD "forward" - - An appropriate "R" word would have been more effective - if said at all.
Come up with a message and stick to it, don't steal from or degrade the otherside. For example: The 1970's battle cry "Long live Volkswagia!" was a positive and effective message, without calling out the opponent - - and it worked. It instilled pride and cohesion amongst the team.
Our district is going to move forward, much like we got change with the new president, regardless of who sits in those seats at the library or who sits in the oval office.
The "R" team can move forward; as long as they don't specify which way, it's not stealing from Gardner/Posti and sometimes Birks.
I do agree with Mr. Matthews about the negative. Saying the other team is negative does indeed put your own team in the same category.
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