[Peace-discuss] Fw: [Discuss] Champaign school board -- surprise forum tonight 5-7, Indigo Gallery, Champaign

[David Johnson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Melodye Rosales 
To: Stuart Levy 
Cc: discuss at lists.communitycourtwatch.org 
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 3:40 PM
Subject: Re: [Discuss] Champaign school board -- surprise forum tonight 5-7, Indigo Gallery, Champaign


Re: The Stuckey Campaign and Yesterday's event

This situation is more tragic then Stuart has stated.  Four of the Five candidates (Lynn Stuckey being the unfortunate 5th wheel) met independently to plan a collective campaign event under the guise of a fundraiser for the Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation.  Four of the Five candidates pooled together resources and purchased refreshments to entertain a public audience at an "Open House".  The sad ending to this is that Candidate Stuckey (5th wheel) thought there must have been a miscommunication that resulted in her not being offered an opportunity to be part of the groups efforts and so she decided to attend the event and meet and greet alongside the other Four Candidates at the public "Open House".  After arriving, Candidate Stuckey (5th Wheel) understood she was intentionally left out of the event so she decided to pass out her literature on the sidewalk, while the event planner-candidates had their signs and literature nicely displayed inside and available to their supporters and newly recruited supporters they'd hoped to attract.

Now, I have remained quiet these past few months as I've watched the sometimes questionable behavior and practices that have purposefully alienated Candidate Stuckey (5th Wheel) by the remaining Four Candidates who are also vying for the four open Champaign School Board seats. The main reason I tried to keep opinions to myself was because I was told Jamar Brown was supportive of the community and what we've fought for and continue to hold Unit# 4 accountable to---in other words, he's Black and I am Black---so--gotta go with the Black connection, right?  Wrong.  Taking my favorite quote from Zora Hurston, "Just because you my skin folk, don't mean you is my kin folk."

As a politician's wife, I am not new to what folks will do to win the vote.  But I can also say that even though Giraldo and I have been tricked many times over during campaigns, we have remained honest and forthright because we are of the belief, naive or not, that good will prevail---and we are what you see--like it or not.

Perhaps the Three incumbents and Candidate Jamar Brown will be the victors and Candidate Lynn Stuckey will succumb to a loss and that will be that.  Or, maybe--- just maybe---- we can energize enough folks that feel "I'm not gonna take it anymore!" and vote for what's going to move our school district forward and not simply what "looks" like it will.  

For the record, I have spoken with all Three incumbents who have sought me out because I am the only Black female representing the community who sits on the EEE committee.  Before these incumbents sought me out of the Three, One had ongoing communication with me, the Second had barely spoken to me and the Third had made distasteful remarks about me in the past.  So, you can imagine what I think when Jamar Brown, who sits alongside me on the dog and pony committee (aka EEE) not only has never spoken to me--directly or indirectly, but remains tactfully silent each time I try and tear down the window dressing to encourage transparency. In fact, Jamar Brown has never expressed any thought during the meetings nor responded to any group emails sent out by the facilitator of the EEE, even where we are specifically asked to respond.  

We need a School Board that is not in lock-step, but one that is diverse in mind---not simply color, and to make sure at least one member will ask the right questions and keep asking until they get an answer we can all live with.

Thank you for reading,
Melodye Rosales




On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 3:05 PM, Stuart Levy <stuartnlevy at gmail.com> wrote:

  4 of the 5 candidates for Champaign Unit 4 School Board are attending
  a forum/fundraiser this evening.  The other candidate, Lynn Stuckey,
  was not invited but she intends to be there, and invites others on this
  list to come by too.  (Lynn points out that the Open Meetings Act
  will have something to say about this if at least four current Board
  members show up.)

  It's a fundraiser for Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation, to be at:

    5:00-7:00PM
    Tonight, Tuesday 3/29
    Indi Go Gallery
    9 E. University Ave, Champaign
    (Across University from the City building.)
  _______________________________________________
  Discuss mailing list
  Discuss at lists.communitycourtwatch.org
  http://lists.communitycourtwatch.org/listinfo.cgi/discuss-communitycourtwatch.org





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss at lists.communitycourtwatch.org
http://lists.communitycourtwatch.org/listinfo.cgi/discuss-communitycourtwatch.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20110330/7c20964b/attachment.html>