HAZEL: Vested and fully involved

Christa Hazel is the right choice for our Zone 1 school board election on May 21. She has a vested interest in a successful public education system while recognizing we need to be fiscally responsible with our tax dollars.

I first met Christa when we both applied for the Zone 1 seat vacated by Edie Brooks. Neither of us was chosen by the previous board to fill that seat. The seat is now on its third appointment in less than two years (Brooks – elected; Appointed: Quinn, Purtee and Regan).

A school board seat is a volunteer position. In my opinion, a candidate’s personal reasons for wanting to serve should be transparent. For Christa, she is an involved, vested, public school parent with experience in district business. She understands that school board decisions affect her children and yours. She knows how important it is to give parents and patrons a voice on our school board.

Without hesitation, I will be voting for Christa Hazel. She has clear priorities as a candidate: higher standards in our classrooms, keeping safety and security for our students a top priority, tackling bullying head on through a multi-prong approach, encouraging parent involvement, and always making sure that integrity with parents and taxpayers is maintained.

In these last two years, we have witnessed the most controversial time in our school board’s history. Zone 1 has seen four trustees in less than two years. It is time to see a qualified, dedicated person like Christa represent our views on the school board. Election is always better than appointment because those that do the appointing subjectively pick their friends. Handpicking obviously isn’t working and it isn’t democratic. Let’s exercise our right to vote by electing someone with a transparent desire to serve and clear goals outlined for our district.

TONY NORRIS

Coeur d’Alene