Editor,
Peggy Wolff’s school board campaign launch party was held at current board member Ketta Brown’s stunning home. Brown says PTA is the best training for school board, and now Peggy is following in Ketta’s footsteps with “community volunteer” designation on ballot.
The school board is a legislative rule making body that spends $50 million a year and decides individual and collective fate of students, parents, teachers and administrators.
What’s not to like about Peggy? She’s great, but her website is light on substance so we were eager to hear a platform. She spoke just a couple minutes, posted it on her website. The only real content was official public endorsement of Jan Vickers for other open seat!
Peggy’s message asking supporters to block vote Wolff-Vickers surprised. Once a candidate does that, it’s unethical to ask her supporters to “bullet vote” just for Wolff. She has to withdraw endorsement like Kelly Boyd did to Jon Madison in 2014 to wiggle out of supporting a block vote for de facto Wolff-Vickers ticket she created.
Peggy’s the front runner backed by powerful school donors and city council members, so her surprise block voting ticket may boost Vickers, whose base has eroded among many of my friends who once supported her.
Vickers voted for the contract giving MTV commercial rights to “own and exploit” without restrictions all images of students captured by cameras on LBHS campus. It was rescinded due to a parent revolt, but only after our school board had brought MTV to town, doing more to put the wrong images and values in heads of kids locally and around the world.
Vickers voted for an alcohol only adult responsibility ordinance when adult-enabled opiate and prescription drug abuse was increasing by almost 200%. She voted to move start of school into August without consulting the community, and for the 2013 hiring binge increasing top-heavy senior staff – all later fired or resigned. These ill-advised actions Vickers voted for were all reversed at great cost to taxpayers and/or loss of focus on education.
With all her consultants, advisors, deep pocket donors, didn’t anyone explain formally endorsing creates virtual running mate whose voting and performance record Wolff also has endorsed?
By aligning a block vote ticket isolating intrepid challenger Howard Hills, Wolff has created a new dynamic inviting Hills supporters (and Vickers opponents) to cast a single vote for Hills, leveling field to give Hills a fighting chance.
Ray Brooks, Aliso Viejo
