school board vice president leslie kiesler's letter to the editor

Past, current board members 
served in nonpartisan fashion

I had the honor to serve with one of the finest school board members we will ever have, Harry Butler. I am offended that letter writer Sue Benjamin, in her letter to the editor, would even suggest that Harry and I, both Republicans, were “highly partisan.” I feel that Harry, Greg Mikolai and I listened objectively and voted accordingly. We did not have an agenda.

I do not know what school board meetings Benjamin has attended, but in the last two years, I can only recall two split votes. The first one concerned the clinic agreement with Community Hospital. That vote was 4 to 1. The clinic has been very successful at providing quality health care for the employees of District 51, along with saving the taxpayers money.

The only other split vote (3-2) was this past spring over approval of the MVEA contract. It should be noted that on the last day of negotiations with MVEA, the most critical in the process, the only members present to represent the school board were Mikolai, Butler and me.

It saddens me that some have taken to spreading such misinformation about our school district to win an election. I think Butler would be very disappointed in the tone the election has taken, as am I. He didn’t believe that partisan politics had any place in our schools or with our students. When you vote for representatives to the school board this year, think about the falsehoods spread by certain people.

I think Butler would have preferred that caring people vote for the nonpartisan candidates — Mikolai, Tom Parrish and John Williams, who care more about our students and their learning.

LESLIE KIESLER

Grand Junction