Democracy only works when we work it. It seems our crybaby school board doesn’t like people who are passionate about our school system talking to them, they only want to hear from the meek and the non-voting;
The next time Sioux Falls School Board members approve a budget or decide when school will start, they want to know in advance what the public thinks.
The problem, as they see it, is that only those people who feel strongly about an issue are going to speak up – such as the mother who board member Debbie Hoffman said recently “accosted” her at a grocery store to complain about the school calendar.
Gee willickers, how dare a constituent question a public official to their face. Bravo to that person.
“You need to bring the silent majority back in the conversation,” he said.
While I agree, if these people are informed voters, you and I both know that most people don’t give two shits about what the school board does – it shows in voter turnout. And the ones that do show up to the polls and meetings, are the ones you need to listen to. I’m tired of catering to the lazy, uninformed non-voters. Start listening to the informed, you know, the ones that “accost” you in the grocery store. This coming from an Event Center Task Force member that only showed up to the last couple of meetings to share her “uninformed” opinion.
On the other hand, if you vote a good someone into office, one unfounded ethics complaint can remove and replace them with a King Huether lieutenant.
I agree with you completely. I wish every person would tell school board members what they think. I am not the biggest fan of school boards.
The way I look at it is if a person seeks to be in public office, be it the lowly school board, or higher offices, they can expect to have people stop them in stores, on the street or where ever. A few years ago I called Mrs. Hoffman at home, one evening about a problem that one of my grandchildren was having, and I almost got my head bit off.
I heard ol’ flat top can be a real barracuda.
Just because someone is elected to public office or works in the public sector does not mean they are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a week.
There is a big difference between calling someone during business hours or on a business line versus calling them at home or knocking on their door at 9:30pm.
Yes there is a certain expectation of availability, but they are people too and deserve some sense of individual freedom. There is a time and place for everything… but that doesn’t include harrassment or nit-picky complaints at all hours of the night.
I meant 365 days a year obviously. Doh.
When I called Mrs. Hoffman at home, it was early evening, and I had been trying to get hold of her all day. I had also been told that she didn’t work outside the home. When you are in the public eye there is no excuse for rudeness. One of my uncles was a county highway superintendent in a nearby county for several years and he received calls at home and in stores, etc. He never once complained about it. His job wasn’t even an elected one.
Didn’t know talking to a public official at a grocery store was fucking with someone’s ‘availability’?
If it is true that Debbie was a ‘stay at home’ mom or what ever, I find it odd she only showed up to the last couple of EC TF meetings.
If you want to be apublic official, BRAVO! But once elected, do your job, or quit, or STFU.