County Issues

With the shutting down of newspapers all across the country, information regarding elections is scattered all over the internet and oftentimes appears biased because it is coming from the candidates themselves and their parties. The local paper, The Daily Journal, was absorbed by a parent company and the last reporter in the county retired last year. Without a trusted 3rd party entity providing objective oversight regarding issues facing the county, the public is left woefully uninformed about what is going on, especially in regards to local elections where biased political messaging could be running rampant. While most of the candidates agree we need press coverage, none of them seem to be particularly interested engaging in an action plan to fix the problem for a variety of reasons. One candidate said "With the lack of press coverage, candidates are left to be their own press on social media." While we appreciate the pro-active approach to do something to get information out to the public, this approach could easily lead to the appearance of overwhelming bias and scattered sources of information... who has the time to scour all the candidates social media pages, verify the facts, send follow-up questions that oftentimes go unanswered, attend various events that have entrance fees, etc etc etc? The press, that's who. Another candidate said "If I get involved in forming the local press, it could be viewed as a bias for my party." Understandable, but we are still ultimately left uninformed. The public needs reasonable access to comprehensive, consolidated information regarding election choices. "We'll let the public know what we want them to know", this did not come from a candidate, but rather from a campaign organizer. It's pretty clear that we have a problem, but not necessarily anyone willing to solve it.

It has been rumored for years that behvarioral issues in the school system has been growing. Some say that current restorative practices have been insufficient and that perhaps a return to traditional disciplinary systems may be better. How would our candidates approach disciplining behavioral problems?

Policy 5756, a guideline for how to address transitioning students, was a big topic last year. While some argue that students shouldn't be outed to their parents in fear of potentially unfair judgement from the parents, others argue that it is the parents right to know what is going on with their children and ultimately have the right to raise their children how they see fit, not the state. Similarly, many issues regarding sexually related material being present in schools has raised the issue of what type of material is appropriate in schools. How would the candidates approach issues regarding the parents right to know what's going on, be involved in how curriculum's are set up, and what might be off-limit material?

Student output and test scores have been an issue for many years. How would the candidates help ensure that students and schools will reach appropriate benchmarks in the coming years?