My teammates are much more eloquent than I am. I have spent a lot of time with Sam, Buddy and Susan, and I am constantly impressed with their vision and their common sense. If elected, we will do everything in our power to make the school board about supporting the students, teachers and administration, and not about our personalities.

I am also touched by the support our team gets from our friends and fellow citizens. One of my favorite lines from a song is “No one respects the flame quite like the fool who is badly burned.” The citizens of Burke County have been burned. A voter turnout of ~8900 people in the last county election indicates we may have been foolish. But there are folks out there who are willing to give us a chance to make things right. To prove that the board can function the way it was intended, and that its members can function with some degree of professionalism and transparency.

I am far from perfect. I make mistakes all of the time (ask my 15 year old son). The four of us are all a little quirky. But I can promise you that we will do the best we can, because we do not want to let the children or those who support us down.

We realize that re-building the trust of the community is going take a long time, and I fully expect to be called to task for decisions or statements that I might make as a member of the school board. I am sure that we have all done or said things in the past that we wish we had not, and I am sure that we will do or say (or write) things in the future that we wish we had not. We are not in this race for glory, or power or “payback. “

At this time, in this county, in this situation, I believe that we are the best choice for the Burke County School Board.

We know that there is much work to be done, and we hope to gain your trust as we do that work together – as a school board and as a community.