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Senator Daniel did not bother to ask local leaders, mayors, city officials what they thought about his bill. City officials in Morganton, Valdese, and Drexel got wind of the bill just before it was to come up for a vote and voiced strong and public opposition. These cities were withdrawn from the bill’s requirement.

However, Senate Bill 288 did pass changing the method of selecting the boards of education in Burke and Caldwell counties from nonpartisan to partisan. Now one of our most respected and effective School Board members, Don Hemstreet, may not be able to run for re-election because he refuses to declare a political party in favor of being nonaligned politically.

Don has made it clear that he feels strongly that the School Board should be a nonpartisan entity. So, the only way for Mr. Hemstreet to be on the ballet is to gather 2,341 signatures of registered Burke County voters because he refuses to declare a political party.

Senator Daniel has helped dumb down our politics in Burke County. Now all you have to do is look for an R or a D in front of the name of the candidate rather than take the time to determine if the person is honest, has integrity, has the maturity to disagree respectfully, can listen to other’s opinions, knows anything about or has experience in public education.

You don’t have to ask if the person can accept losing gracefully if they don’t get the majority of votes. Making our Board of Education a partisan issue guarantees shouting matches, poor ability to reach consensus, inability to learn from those who differ, inability to listen to each other respectfully when people disagree. Rather we elect people for stupid reasons like whether they are for or against masks, whether they want to ban or not ban books.

I wonder if Senator Daniel foresaw that his bill could make good, experienced, seasoned Board of Education members like Don Hemstreet ineligible to even run for the position. Sign Don’s petition. Tell Senator Daniel to withdraw his petty bill.