The voters of this city don't research before they vote. They just vote for the first names on the ballot. They don't understand how important it is to have an objective board that is working for the students. It seems people do little to no research when they vote. The article below will tell the story.
Oh, if you happen to get votes a district employee will just strike it up to you being a woman. Whatever that means.
Martin,
the district's autism education specialist, says the close election
results aren't cause to believe that other parents are as upset as
Tucker.
"I
can't say why anyone voted the way they did," Martin says. "Some may
have voted for her because of her issue, but some might've done it
because she was the last name on the ballot, and some may have done it
because she's a female."
Special Needs Challenger
Earns Support from Lee's Summit Tribune, re-typed by Debbie
Shaumeyer
LS Tribune Saturday, April 12, 2008
A Race to Remember
Matt Bird-Meyer
Tribune Editor
Voters had an option Tuesday of four
board candidates for three seats.
Maybe the outcome was indicative of lazy voting habits, where the
candidates at the top of the ballot get the most votes. Check, check, check and move
on. But maybe the outcome
was indicative of growing displeasure with the entrenched members of the
board. Whatever happened, newcomer
Sherri Tucker came close. She
was just 2 percent shy of overcoming incumbent Jon Plaas, who won 5,065 to
4,679.
Plaas had a slim 386-vote separation from Tucker. However
the top vote getter, Jeff Tindle, had 2,246 more votes than Tucker, and Jack
Wiley had 1,878 more votes than the newcomer. Tindle was listed first on the ballot,
followed by Wiley, Plaas and then Tucker.
The top two candidates were so far ahead of the bottom two that it
appears voters were gravitating toward Tucker. I like to think the people who
make time to visit the polls are going in there knowing how they will vote, or
at least with some knowledge of the candidates. Personally, I would never vote for
someone I know nothing about.
Sherri Tucker never hid the fact that her only platform was special
education. She is the mother of a special-needs son and is part of a group of 40
people who feel the R-7 district is not providing adequate services for their
special-needs children.
Tucker didn't go about this
alone. Members of the Lee's Summit Autism Support Group picked Tucker to run
against the three incumbents.
This was her first time running for office, and she's pledged it's not
her last. Plaas and the others
circled the wagons during the campaign, supporting one another and alienating
Tucker as a single-issue candidate. Plaas said single-issue candidates belong on
the other side of the podium from school board members.
And to an extent, he's right,
Candidates should be savvy enough to know that and campaign accordingly. That
doesn't mean the candidate should never hold a single issue close to their
heart. To me, that's how the system
works. If you think government isn't working, then run for office or at least
get involved. And when voters
respond like they did here, we should all take them seriously. I can't
say whether there's a problem with special education services in the R-7
district, but there's a growing movement of families out there who are saying
that. "I don't feel like we lost,"
Tucker told me during a telephone interview. "We got our message out there and to me
that's a win."
I agree, and to run up right against
sitting school board members in Lee's Summit is admirable. The incumbents here
are typically strong candidates with almost instant support from community
leaders. The topic of special education is an emotional and complex one. These students have different needs and
different individualized education programs. Some students have to find some services
outside of the district and some are able to stay in regular classrooms. The
bottom line is they are students, and they deserve as much attention as anyone
else.
