Editor, Ceres Courier,
I would like to respond to the Sept. 26 letter to the editor sent from the political action committee of the Ceres Unified Teachers Association. As a member of the Ceres Unified School District Board of Trustees, I have had the privilege to work alongside Diane Sol, Yvette Nunes and Eric Ingwerson. I have a tremendous amount of respect for each of them and the leadership they provide in serving as board members of the Ceres Unified School District. I want to also state that I respect each of the three challengers who are running for the board. All six of those running are good people who want to do good things for our kids.
In endorsing the three challengers, the letter from the political action committee was very disappointing to me. I was not disappointed or even surprised by their endorsement but I was disappointed with their failure to even be willing to listen to the views held by the three incumbents - Sol, Nunes and Ingwerson. What I found most disturbing was in our democracy we know that open debate and discussion is a must for us to truly have a good district and community. In this case, the union did not have the common decency to invite even one of the incumbents to discuss their views or priorities. The most surprising thing to me was that the union did not even have the courtesy to interview Mr. Ingwerson, who has only been on the board for six months. Mr. Ingwerson's contributions to our community - as a city councilman, planning commissioner and as Citizen of the Year - should motivate even the most destructive union leader to be professional enough to talk to the man.
Again, the union leadership, like so often in the past, has taken the "low road" in addressing the issues that face our district. Like our Board of Trustees, please do not believe that this union leadership represents the terrific teachers that teach our students each day. Thankfully, we have great teachers in our classrooms who ignore such negative behavior and I am asking each voter in our community to do likewise.
Mike Welsh,
Trustee,
Ceres Unified School District Board
I would like to respond to the Sept. 26 letter to the editor sent from the political action committee of the Ceres Unified Teachers Association. As a member of the Ceres Unified School District Board of Trustees, I have had the privilege to work alongside Diane Sol, Yvette Nunes and Eric Ingwerson. I have a tremendous amount of respect for each of them and the leadership they provide in serving as board members of the Ceres Unified School District. I want to also state that I respect each of the three challengers who are running for the board. All six of those running are good people who want to do good things for our kids.
In endorsing the three challengers, the letter from the political action committee was very disappointing to me. I was not disappointed or even surprised by their endorsement but I was disappointed with their failure to even be willing to listen to the views held by the three incumbents - Sol, Nunes and Ingwerson. What I found most disturbing was in our democracy we know that open debate and discussion is a must for us to truly have a good district and community. In this case, the union did not have the common decency to invite even one of the incumbents to discuss their views or priorities. The most surprising thing to me was that the union did not even have the courtesy to interview Mr. Ingwerson, who has only been on the board for six months. Mr. Ingwerson's contributions to our community - as a city councilman, planning commissioner and as Citizen of the Year - should motivate even the most destructive union leader to be professional enough to talk to the man.
Again, the union leadership, like so often in the past, has taken the "low road" in addressing the issues that face our district. Like our Board of Trustees, please do not believe that this union leadership represents the terrific teachers that teach our students each day. Thankfully, we have great teachers in our classrooms who ignore such negative behavior and I am asking each voter in our community to do likewise.
Mike Welsh,
Trustee,
Ceres Unified School District Board
