I'll Cry If I Want To

A photo from this week's Howard County Democratic Party's Labor Day picnic made me stop and think.

I simply can't wrap my brain around the presence of campaign signs for Janet Siddiqui at this event.

The standard answer to this practice is that all Democrats in good standing are invited to post their signs at Democratic Party events during the election season. My question is, what makes someone a "Democrat in good standing"?

Consider this:

In this letter to Glenwood Middle School parents, dated July 31st, 2015, Dr. Siddiqui states, "At no point has this mold issue been a public health issue for students and staff."

That's just not true. If you'd like to review the documents, including the workers compensation judgement in favor of staff members exposed to poor air quality and faulty ventilation, take a look here. Click on the "Mold in Schools" section.

Dr. Siddiqui, a pediatrician who has used her position on the Board of Education to repeatedly discuss addressing "the needs of the whole child", spoke to parents from a position of authority, and withheld the truth. (That's the nicest way I know how to say it.) It is very likely that more students and staff suffered mold-related illnesses due to her outright lack of advocacy.

What makes someone a Democrat in good standing?

This issue is a particular sticking point for me because this has been an election year in which Democrats have been zealously demanding that Republicans publicly renounce the Republican presidential candidate. Now I know there is huge difference between the local Board of Education race and the Presidency of the United States. No attempt at false equivalency here.

But. (And this is a big "but" we are talking about here.)

How can we ask Republicans to publicly denounce a candidate who is "a Republican in good standing" and refuse to entertain the notion that aDemocratic candidate has so blatantly broken her pledge to serve the community who elected her? Remember: I'm a Democrat. This isn't something I'm at all happy to wrestle with.

I would never ask members of the Howard County Democratic Party to publicly renounce Dr. Siddiqui. That's just not how I operate. I might ask them to consider what that photograph of the picnic looks like to Howard County School parents, teachers, and staff. It looks like choosing sides. It looks like an endorsement.

What makes someone a Democrat in good standing? Could it be her ability to raise money?

(Data from campaign finance.us)

I don't know. But I do know that, in this (non-partisan) race for the Board of education, there are five better choices: Coombs, Cutroneo, Delmont-Small, Ellis, Miller.

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Columbia Chance Connection

Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!” We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog