Loaded With Choices

This year's school board trustee election is not your usual flip a coin and pick 'em. One challenger is Christa Hazel. She is an attorney, a mother and a community activist. She has a balanced view on the various subjects that are brought up, but most importantly, she is issue orientated, not ideological. A person that votes only for political purity as in the Constitution party will deserve what she or he gets. On top of that, ironically, Her opponent home schools his kids. To hire someone to supervise students in a school he doesn't believe in is madness. ...But then Wackos tend toward those extremes.

Then we have Tom Hearn. A professional Mental Health doctor, father of three. He is opposed by a self ;proclaimed Constitution party member. At the last Coeur d'Alene City Council meeting, he roared at the council telling them that there are thousands  of his ilk out there. (How about a couple of hundred?)
The extreme elements in Kootenai County are making an obvious run at controling everything including non-partisan offices.

This attitude reflects a mirror image of Washington State where liberal democrats have ruled for a long time.I was once a worker in Ronald Reagan's campaign for California governor in 1965-66. Sure, we had weirdos down there, but they called themselves the "John Birch Society." Not so with the real Reagan's record. He stood for party unity, not the splits that the Republican party is famous for. He coined the phrase, "Eleventh Commandment" which stated thou shalt not speak ill of other Republicans.

He was also a consensus builder. In both the California legislature and then as president of the United States, he was faced with powerful democratic leadership. He somehow managed to get along with those people and brought California out of a serious cash flow problem. Of course other subsequent governors  put them right back where they were financially.

As you can see, some locals thinking to gain legitimacy by using his name in vain are the archetypical wolf in sheep's clothing. These extremists are well organized and the public needs to participate. If they don't, the extremists will win by default. If you want issues resolved, not right wing extremism vote for a sensible school board candidate like Christa Hazel and Tom Hearn.

For those that are curious, I am a Republican since  1964. I am right of center, but not far.I don't wish to tear our party up, but to bring everyone under the same tent. Ceding the party to the extremists will only marginalize it. Another Reagan quote, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. (Lord Acton.) If organizations wish to use his name they ought to stand for his principles. It is not healthy for one party or one segment to win control over everything, even non-partisan offices.

If you are wondering why a Bayview resident such as myself is involved, keep in mind that many of the Reagan Republicans  and other organizations do not live in Coeur d'Alene either. Most are from Post Falls and Northern Kootenai County.