Posted 3/29/18

Through no fault of their own, there are three candidates on the ballot next Tuesday for the Franklin School Board who have no opposition. Two are incumbents. One is a family member of a school member who has decided not to run (How convenient).

Translation: They are guaranteed election. Can’t lose. No way. No how.

Even so one of the incumbents actually contacted me, asking me to make sure I went out and voted for this individual next Tuesday.

Never mind I never heard from this school board member before or after or since this board member took office. Suddenly now I was supposed to do this person a favor.

I laughed out loud. Are you kidding me?

It was border line begging for my vote. When the person is unopposed!

Let’s talk some political reality, shall we?

Running unopposed (yes, there’s been a write-in candidate surfacing but that’s a snowball’s chance in hell) is a candidate’s dream.

No need to finance yard signs.

No need to finance campaign literature.

No need to find campaign volunteers.

No need to knock on doors.

Why?

Because I WIN!

Which means I have no need whatsoever to communicate with voters.

So they don’t, except to beg for votes they don’t need.

I have blogged many times that my vote is precious. In my view, if you think I am going to blithely go to the polls and vote for you just because your name is plastered there alongside no one else’s you’re sadly mistaken.

I understand that on the troll-heavy Franklin social media sites there’s a faction that believes the Franklin public schools are perfect, they can do no wrong, and there is no referendum dollar request that is too large.

That faction of trolls is a vast minority if you ask me. There are far too many more who don’t venture onto the social media sites who think the taxpayers are being raped, especially when it comes to referenda, and that the school system is over-rated.

Franklin has gone referenda crazy, an approach Mark Belling ripped on his program last Friday.

The current Franklin school board is loaded with more supposedly fiscal conservatives now than ever since I first moved into Franklin in 1992. And yet when it comes time to vote they generally throw fiscal conservatism out the window. Just check your December property tax bill.

This is also a school board that ever since former superintendent Steve Patz took over years ago forgot and gave up their role…that is they have acted as they work for the superintendent instead of the other way around. They have quivered and cowed to the superintendent instead of taking a clear authoritative position.

Meanwhile the obscene tax and spending continues.

So I am to vote for any of these folks, why?

Haven’t heard from them unless I humbly ask a question. Now at least one finds the need to contact me to beg for my vote!

Relax, guys. I like and respect you, the incumbents, I know nothing about the 3^rd candidate and why would I?

But I’ll not help you. I’m leaving the school board section blank.

And I won’t feel the least bit bad about it, especially when my next property tax bill arrives next November/December.