Policy Over Politics

Dear Voter,

It is hard to believe what is going on with our local Council Rock School Board races. I have lived in Bucks County for 17 years and have never seen this level of political vitriol in a local contest. I don't think I am the only one who feels this way.

A quick review of the campaign finance documents show that this is being largely orchestrated by political action committees (PACs: Council Rock Democratic candidates, PA Democratic Party, Northampton Democratic Party, Bucks United, Indivisible Bucks, Turn Bucks Blue, Together for Council Rock (All Democrat PACs)), along with out-of-state interests. Who spends close to $100K on School Board elections for unpaid positions? What is their purpose and end game? We should all be concerned.

The result is that we have lost our ability to have conversation and debate on policies; Instead, we are pelted with buzz words and name-calling: Extremist, bigot, book banning, horror story, sexist. These attacks are rarely delivered from a solid foundation but are merely ad-hominem attacks. How can we ever expect people to run for these important positions knowing that they are going to be smeared and maligned by semi-anonymous groups delivering propaganda to their neighbors via US Mail?

One of the more visible fake issues in this campaign is the supposed “Book Banning” taking place in the Council Rock libraries. At the latest school board meeting on 10/19/2023, it was made clear by the bipartisan sitting school board that no books have been banned and no books will be banned. The school board spends their time focusing on how the available resources can be used to provide our children with an excellent education and try to avoid wading into the “culture wars.”

At the latest school board meeting on 10/19/23, Anne Horner, Natalya Khavulya, and Jonathan Seamans all showed up and took the opportunity to speak to the school board and the community to address the character assassination attempts being perpetrated against them. They also discussed their future policy positions. It should be noted that the Democrat candidates (Matthew Laskowski, Linda Stone, Tracey Osecki, Kimberly Winnick, Nicole Khan) did not even bother to attend the meeting.

I encourage everyone to put the rhetoric aside and focus on the issues. I believe the best decisions are rooted in contemplation, deductive reasoning, research, NOT emotion. Effort matters; Character matters; Policy matters; Community matters. Let’s choose the candidates that fulfill these requirements. Our future, our children, and the next generation are depending on us.

Laurie Katz, Northampton Township