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ELECTIONS, CHANGE, AND THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE
> last year a group of parents formed a group to fight our local school > board.we had meetings that were taped and shown on a local channel.all > five board members lost in may and our people won the > election.however,they are still in office until december and are doing > everything in their power to spend all the funds and making it almost > impossible for the new board to make things right again.the present > board is saying they didn't lose by a big enough margin and we probably > had all of our friends and family come out and vote.i imagine you are > very busy but i would like to write a letter about freedom of speech > and losing elections.can you help? It is difficult to write about a situation without having lots of details, but the following are some thoughts that might be useful: ======================== The actions of the present School Board in doing everything they can to obstruct the work of the newly elected School Board are clearly undemocratic and unAmerican. Under the American system of government, the will of the majority is, as Thomas Jefferson wrote, "the fundamental law of every society of individuals of equal rights; to consider the will of the society enounced by the majority of a single vote as sacred as if unanimous is the first of all lessons in importance, yet the last which is thoroughly learnt." (Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, 1817.) For the board to say the majority was "not large enough" is for them to violate their trust and to contradict the clearly and legally stated will of the people they are supposed to serve. For the present School Board to claim that their opponents had all their friends and family come out and vote for them is a mockery. Does that mean that all the present Board's friends and family DID NOT come out and vote, or if they did, that they voted AGAINST them? Their false arguments and petty attitude only betrays the extent to which they will go in order to hold on to power and to pursue their own interests, even if those interests are against the will of the people whom they are supposed to serve. But as Jefferson wrote again, "The will of the people... is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object." --Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Waring, 1801. Not to obstruct in any way possible, but to protect. Any American interested in justice and fairness in government could not help but be disgusted with such a response by elected officials. By taking actions that would make the job of the new school board members more difficult, they only reveal the contempt they have for their responsibilities. In whose interests are these actions taken? For the good of the School System and the community? Or is it to serve their own political interests in an attempt to make the new board look bad? Such actions and such an attitude only demonstrate that the best intrests of the community are served by voting all such people out of office. ==================== Please feel free to use the above materials in any way you please. Since I am not really familiar with the particular situation, I would prefer that my name not be used in connection with it. But you can copy, omit, rewrite, change, or alter it in any way that suits you.