APS School Board Chair Drama

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so perfectly Arlington. You can’t be “one of us” Dems unless you fall in line. No room for difference of opinion. Do not question party leadership. Either drink our particular brand if Kool-Aid or get out. All while we pat ourselves on the back for being “so progressive.” It’s ironic and laughable.

It doesn’t even make sense. Reasonable people can disagree, and still be on the same team. It’s not like the vote was on whether or not to affirm trans rights, or something that the national party has a position on, and that should be an agreed upon as a basic position of anyone seeking a “D” endorsement. And it’s not like her one vote was going to stop the construction from moving forward. JFC, it really has made me like the local Dems less. They are self-owning and making party faithful distrust them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so perfectly Arlington. You can’t be “one of us” Dems unless you fall in line. No room for difference of opinion. Do not question party leadership. Either drink our particular brand if Kool-Aid or get out. All while we pat ourselves on the back for being “so progressive.” It’s ironic and laughable.

It doesn’t even make sense. Reasonable people can disagree, and still be on the same team. It’s not like the vote was on whether or not to affirm trans rights, or something that the national party has a position on, and that should be an agreed upon as a basic position of anyone seeking a “D” endorsement. And it’s not like her one vote was going to stop the construction from moving forward. JFC, it really has made me like the local Dems less. They are self-owning and making party faithful distrust them.

Reasonable people do not disagree in Arlington. It's not allowed. See Natalie Roy and all the awful things said about her in her two campaigns for County Board.

[Anonymous]

Yea, the dems are the new/old republicans from the 80s……..they have the money & power and think they can do anything they want. It’s bound to have backlash

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so perfectly Arlington. You can’t be “one of us” Dems unless you fall in line. No room for difference of opinion. Do not question party leadership. Either drink our particular brand if Kool-Aid or get out. All while we pat ourselves on the back for being “so progressive.” It’s ironic and laughable.

It doesn’t even make sense. Reasonable people can disagree, and still be on the same team. It’s not like the vote was on whether or not to affirm trans rights, or something that the national party has a position on, and that should be an agreed upon as a basic position of anyone seeking a “D” endorsement. And it’s not like her one vote was going to stop the construction from moving forward. JFC, it really has made me like the local Dems less. They are self-owning and making party faithful distrust them.

Reasonable people do not disagree in Arlington. It's not allowed. See Natalie Roy and all the awful things said about her in her two campaigns for County Board.

That’s correct. All votes and all policy positions must be lockstep. Whether it’s the “non partisan” school board or the county board. If you disagree, they will find a way to cut you out. Typically by labeling you a racist. But that was a hard strategy to employ here. So they just secretly plotted behind her back. Fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yea, the dems are the new/old republicans from the 80s……..they have the money & power and think they can do anything they want. It’s bound to have backlash

I hope it does. I cringe when I go to vote b/c I can easily vote D nationally, but here I look at many candidates that the ACDC has hand-picked and can't bring myself to vote for them. I abstain or hope for an independent like JV.

[Anonymous]

NP. I have read all the pages here and can't figure out what Mary Kadera did to make the other board members mad at her. Can someone explain?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I have read all the pages here and can't figure out what Mary Kadera did to make the other board members mad at her. Can someone explain?

Mary is a Dem but has no political aspirations beyond the nonpartisan school board. She ran for school board because she is passionate about APS. She asks hard questions and doesn't feel compelled to ensure that every outcome is a 5-0 rubberstamp of the Superintendent's recommendations and decisions. The ArlDems don't like that, and this was a way to "punish" her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I have read all the pages here and can't figure out what Mary Kadera did to make the other board members mad at her. Can someone explain?

Mary is a Dem but has no political aspirations beyond the nonpartisan school board. She ran for school board because she is passionate about APS. She asks hard questions and doesn't feel compelled to ensure that every outcome is a 5-0 rubberstamp of the Superintendent's recommendations and decisions. The ArlDems don't like that, and this was a way to "punish" her.

Correct, in other words Mary is exactly the type of SB member that APS needs. Some are not OK with that.

[Anonymous]

Like I said way upthread, all that had to happen was for Mary to speak up. Isn't the whole issue dead now with her Friday blog post? The rest of the board can't vote her down now.

Congrats to Mary for her chairperson ship. May APS have a better 2024-25 school year with her true leadership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like I said way upthread, all that had to happen was for Mary to speak up. Isn't the whole issue dead now with her Friday blog post? The rest of the board can't vote her down now.

Congrats to Mary for her chairperson ship. May APS have a better 2024-25 school year with her true leadership.

+1. I don't think anybody in AEM or here thought that Mary should be skipped over. Everyone agrees she is the best school board member right now. The whole drama was just bizarre. There was no reason besides pettiness why they were ganging up on Mary, and a lot of us couldn't believe that the rest of the Board would have tried this nonsense. And if they're that petty with Mary, they'll remember all of those emails that trickled in. If you sent one, be prepared for scorn for the next 6 months or so. And maybe longer if Bethany and Zuraya get their marching orders.

I wish she had defended herself sooner. It would have been over without all of this *looks around DCUM*.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea, the dems are the new/old republicans from the 80s……..they have the money & power and think they can do anything they want. It’s bound to have backlash

I hope it does. I cringe when I go to vote b/c I can easily vote D nationally, but here I look at many candidates that the ACDC has hand-picked and can't bring myself to vote for them. I abstain or hope for an independent like JV.

Exactly. And this “ranked choice” somehow doing us all a favor? Please. None of my #1s have ever won the race. I automatically now don’t make the ACDC favorite my #1 vote.

Farnum would be my #1, but since JD’s the party favorite, I feel like the only one who can compete with him is Roy. So she’s now ranked first, Devita (because he’s going to lose anyway) is #2, and then Farnum is 3rd. I have to play the game because the ACDC owns the entire town. Including the school board

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like I said way upthread, all that had to happen was for Mary to speak up. Isn't the whole issue dead now with her Friday blog post? The rest of the board can't vote her down now.

Congrats to Mary for her chairperson ship. May APS have a better 2024-25 school year with her true leadership.

No what had to happen was a community outcry. That happened. Then the scheme collapsed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea, the dems are the new/old republicans from the 80s……..they have the money & power and think they can do anything they want. It’s bound to have backlash

I hope it does. I cringe when I go to vote b/c I can easily vote D nationally, but here I look at many candidates that the ACDC has hand-picked and can't bring myself to vote for them. I abstain or hope for an independent like JV.

Exactly. And this “ranked choice” somehow doing us all a favor? Please. None of my #1s have ever won the race. I automatically now don’t make the ACDC favorite my #1 vote.

Farnum would be my #1, but since JD’s the party favorite, I feel like the only one who can compete with him is Roy. So she’s now ranked first, Devita (because he’s going to lose anyway) is #2, and then Farnum is 3rd. I have to play the game because the ACDC owns the entire town. Including the school board

Why does it help Farnam to put her behind Devita?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like I said way upthread, all that had to happen was for Mary to speak up. Isn't the whole issue dead now with her Friday blog post? The rest of the board can't vote her down now.

Congrats to Mary for her chairperson ship. May APS have a better 2024-25 school year with her true leadership.

No what had to happen was a community outcry. That happened. Then the scheme collapsed.

I honestly think it could have all been avoided without the drama. Mary just needed to assert herself, say something to her colleagues, post her message without even hinting what was going on and then leave the others to potentially embarrass themselves if they tried this stunt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea, the dems are the new/old republicans from the 80s……..they have the money & power and think they can do anything they want. It’s bound to have backlash

I hope it does. I cringe when I go to vote b/c I can easily vote D nationally, but here I look at many candidates that the ACDC has hand-picked and can't bring myself to vote for them. I abstain or hope for an independent like JV.

Exactly. And this “ranked choice” somehow doing us all a favor? Please. None of my #1s have ever won the race. I automatically now don’t make the ACDC favorite my #1 vote.

Farnum would be my #1, but since JD’s the party favorite, I feel like the only one who can compete with him is Roy. So she’s now ranked first, Devita (because he’s going to lose anyway) is #2, and then Farnum is 3rd. I have to play the game because the ACDC owns the entire town. Including the school board

DP. But I remember reading somewhere that the #2 is disadvantaged in the ranked choice vote. Hope OP comes back to explain why.

Why does it help Farnam to put her behind Devita?