I brought my bike along to the Napa Valley for this week of work. My work comrade and friend, R.O. talked me out of riding my bike today. "Don't get your bike wet for your first ride", he said. "Ride it tomorrow when there isn't supposed to be any rain".
OK.
So after work, I took yet another stroll around St. Helena...and another quick walk through a vineyard. Stopped off at a grocery store to buy some soup and a bottle of wine for dinner.
This town is in the midst of an election campaign. Signs advertising "Yes" on Recall and "No" on Recall compete in next-door neighbor's front yards. The Recall is about throwing out four members of the current school board. Supporters of the Recall want to replace these board members with four new ones. Why do they want to replace the School Board? It seems that the new Superintendent of the school is seen as a sycophant of a prior Superintendent. There are other issues too---but in reading through the arguments for the Recall, it just seems like some folks have way too much free time on their hands. At least they aren't arguing over some Neanderthal issue such as teaching Evolution in schools. (I wonder if the increase in Homeschooling by Christian Conservatives has led to the demise of this issue?). Anyway, this Recall vote just looks like plain old Vengeance. An ax being ground.
The St. Helena School District has lots of money. Property taxes on these multi-million dollar properties means that St. Helena has lots of cash to spend on their public school system. Some families in other towns fake their addresses so that their kids can go to the schools in this wealthy community.
Democracy in action. I wonder how it will all play out?
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