Local School Board Election

The local school board is something I do not follow; the elections even less so. All I know is that CPS, for the most part, gets really bad press. Whether its deserved or not, I do not know, as I am not a product of that system. Charleston County (SC) School District got bad press, too, but there were enough bright spots within the system to make it a worthwhile education.

It's only recently that I've begun to pay attention to school based LGBTQ issues, not only due to the media regarding bullying, murders, and suicides of queer kids in middle- and high-schools, but because of the tireless advocacy of the local GLSEN organization.

I have not yet done my research on all the candidates, and I am only aware of one person running for the CPS board -- Jason Haap, local activist, editor of the Cincinnati Beacon, and friend to this blog. Haap is hugely LGBTQ-friendly and has come to me on a couple of occasions with questions regarding the local community and how he, as a supporter, can be (well) more supportive. When he announced his campaign for school board, after stirring up a little trouble (as only he could :-)) by announcing a mayoral race, he sent me a message on how a curriculum could be more LGBTQ-friendly.

I checked out his website (via his Facebook group) a few days after that conversation, and this appears there:

Other elements, like anti-bullying efforts and recognitions of excellence, should be linked into the curriculum more particularly. Anti-bullying should not be reduced to random pull-out programs with guest speakers, but a district wide policy should make reporting and follow-up more user-friendly (such as accepting information via email, text, and so forth). Those students who do something spectacular should be recognized more regularly for acts of excellence, and the district should partner with the City of Cincinnati and area media to promote excellence as a strategy to improve the schools, the neighborhoods, and the City as a whole.

I think I just made myself a brand new goal for the 2009 elections: get all the school board electors to make strong anti-bullying statements in their platform. Do you think that's feasible? (Don't worry, GLSEN, you'll be hearing from me first :-).) I have made endorsements in past elections. I think, now that Cool Summer is over, I may spend my time on the 2009 local elections so that you, my dear readers, can have a better view of who is on our side and who is not.

Can we make CPS a more LGBTQ-friendly space? Is it already? What are your experiences?

Republicans Endorse a Mayoral Candidate

The HamCo GOP has made their endorsement for the mayoral race to run against Mark Mallory -- Dr. Brad Wenstrup. The decision is met with some enthusiasm, but a lot of "huh? what?" Dr. Wenstrup has no political experience, but he is a highly decorated Iraq war veteran. He also served as the Chief of Surgery at, of all places, Abu Ghraib.

...but somehow that's not a problem.

In short: the local Republicans have nominated a pretty face with a strong-ish past in a desperate effort to appear relevant in comparison to a semi-popular mayor. I doubt the Abu Ghraib thing will play at all locally, much to the disappointment of Tony Fischer who is running for Council who seems to want to play up the Iraq bit, as well, in his campaign. (Word to the wise: international war politics probably don't play well locally, and the Iraq War... well, do you want to go there?) The HamCo GOP blog seems to be very excited about their pick, though you'll find information on Wenstrup's webpage as yet unfulfilling.

Funny, those two -- Fischer and Wenstrup. I suppose if anytime is the right time to make the attempt and move on up, now is it. I'll be curious to see if the "cutie [single] Cincinnati boy home from Iraq dying to make a difference at home" line will work, for either of them.

Another fun little thought: the above picture was taken from a COAST blog posting. Chris Finney is "involved" with COAST, as is, I believe, Chris Smitherman. I wonder if Smitherman and the NAACP will ultimately endorse Wenstrup thanks to pressure from Finney and COAST, and due to the ongoing (and seemingly unresolvable) difficulties between Smitherman and Mallory. It's just a thought, though...

PS --> Wenstrup was recently featured as one of Cincinnati's own "Dr. McDreamy's," so the good doctor has some "good looks street cred."

Cincy Dem Council Endorsements

Thanks to the Cincinnati Blog for the heads up...

The Democratic endorsements for Cincinnati City Council in the 2009 election are:

Jeff Berding (i)
Laketa Cole (i)
Tony Fischer
Greg Harris (i)
Nicholas Hollan
Laure Quinlivan
Cecil Thomas (i)
Bernadette Watson
Wendell Young

(i) = incumbent
Links are previous mentions of that person on this blog.

Hey, aren't we missing someone?