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Personal attacks take precedence
at candidate forum
By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
LA MESA — Echoes of previous election
tactics rang throughout during the Oct. 6 Grossmont High School
District Board Candidate Forum held in La Mesa, by the League of
Women Voters of East San Diego County.
Memories of the Alpine Community Center forum of 2006 were
stirred when the five current candidates spoke to the looming
and impending issues. However two of the three new candidates
chose to use this forum as a soapbox for attack on the
incumbents rather than a friendly medium to express their views
to voters’ questions with informed answers and ideas.
In opening statements, Dr. Gary Woods, a candidate
supported by GUHSD board member Jim Kelly, coined a phrase from
Ronald Reagan, “Status quo is Latin for the mess we’re in.” When
asked to make his opening statement, he passionately said that
our economy is in a recession, he infused his opening response
with an attack on the current board, saying that the board is
filled with corruption, dysfunction and indifference. He finally
announced in his last sentence that his goal for the district is
a safe environment, fiscal responsibility, and excellence in
education.
Priscilla Schreiber, an incumbent on the GUHSD board
said it has been an honor to serve the district for the past
eight years, and is seeking another term. She politely addressed
the forum attendees saying that they could find more information
on her campaign in what she humorously described as a shameless
plug, at Priscillascheiber.com
Larry Urdahl, also an incumbent on the GUHSD board and
the current president, began by saying how proud he was of the
progress that GUHSD had made. He listed the fact that API was up
over all in the district, as well as the new “Character Counts”
program, along with the fact that since 2007, 67.9 percent of
GUHSD graduates are now continuing on to two or four year
colleges, or vocational schools, which is 2 percent above the
state average. He added that GUHSD has also become the model
district for dropout prevention.
Carroll Boone introduced herself in a calm manner,
listing her endorsements, and her experience as a lawyer,
facilitator, mediator and organizer. She comes from a family of
educators and supports Proposition U. She feels that an
investment in education is a wise investment on our future. She
also listed her web site: voteboone.org
Meg Jedynak thanked the organizers of the forum for
bringing the candidates together, stumbling as she segued into a
progressive attack on Schreiber and Urdahl. She said that this
election is about character.
Jedynak said that the district is mired in scandal and
controversy and that Urdahl and Schreiber have made this
district a laughingstock, adding that they were in this for
their own power and their own rewards.
When the first question was put to the candidates about
their particular plans on the prioritizing of work on the
upcoming bond, it was clarified that the question was asking
about Proposition U. Schreiber answered concisely, saying that
priorities were already in place with the program management
team and the Citizen’s Bond Oversight Committee.
“Well, I hope that Prop. U does not pass,” answered
Jedynak sharply. She said that it was a waste of the taxpayers’
money at this time. During this terrible economy, it is not the
right time to charge the taxpayers to build a school that is not
needed. Later on, she said that the Proposition would have a
better chance if Urdahl and Schreiber had not added the $65
million for the building of an unnecessary school.
Urdahl echoed Schreiber, adding that the priorities
were to complete the renovation and modernization that was not
done with Proposition H. He also said that Proposition U was
adding a career tech program that will encompass 30 classrooms
district wide and will provide career opportunities that is good
for our overall economy and overall attendance records.
Boone agreed that there was already a priority list in
place.
When the moderator addressed Gary Woods as “Mister
Woods,” he sharply corrected her saying that he needed to be
addressed as “Doctor Woods” as he has a degree. Then he
continued with his discourse, saying that Proposition U is not
the proposition for this. He said that this was not the time to
build a new school. Then he changed his train of discussion into
an attack on Urdahl, asking why the taxpayers should trust him,
listing a range of personal discrepancies that he perceived as
relevant to the Proposition U question at hand.
The moderator then asked all the forum candidates to
refrain from attacking the other candidates, and please try to
run on your own policies and statements.
Throughout this forum, when asked direct questions,
Schreiber, Urdahl, and Boone answered with clear and informed
responses. However, during this format, Woods and Jedynak took
every opportunity to evade issues and instead, attack and offend
the incumbents.
When asked what was perceived as the number one
challenge to the Grossmont District, Urdahl said that he
perceived the biggest challenge is keeping promises that were
made.
“If you make a promise, you got to keep it,” he said.
Boone responded that she believed that making education
the first step to our economic recovery.
Woods and Jedynak were both asked if Jim Kelly
recruited them, and both denied any recruitment. Woods said that
he was an educator, and he disagreed with how the district was
run, and Jedynak reiterated her motherhood, and said that Kelly
did not recruit her. She said that she approached Kelly for his
endorsement, but her recruitment came from her own children, as
she is the only candidate with three children in the district.
In closing, Schreiber and Urdahl reiterated that the
district was moving at a strong pace and disrupting the momentum
of progress is a mistake. Schreiber and Urdahl are collectively
responsible along with GUHSD board member Dick Hoy for
organizing the progress of Proposition H, and moving it past its
own stagnation.
The county Republican Party endorses both Jedynak and
Woods. Jedynak claims to be a one-time freelance journalist for
The Alpine Sun, but according to recent articles in another
paper has only returned to East County four months ago, after a
nine-year absence, living in Maryland.
Jedynak was asked in the forum if she had ever attended
a GUHSD board meeting, and she abruptly answered, yes, with
little elaboration.
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