For Anonymous That Knew That I Would Be Humiliated


A Race To Remember

LS Tribune Saturday, April 12, 2008
A Race to Remember
Matt Bird-Meyer
Tribune Editor

Voters had an option Tuesday of four board candidates for three
seats. Maybe the outcome was indicative of lazy voting habits, where
the candidates at the top of the ballot get the most votes. Check,
check, check and move on. But maybe the outcome was indicative of
growing displeasure with the entrenched members of the board.
Whatever happened, newcomer Sherri Tucker came close. She was just 2 percent shy of overcoming incumbent Jon Plaas, who won 5,065 to 4,679.

Plaas had a slim 386-vote separation from Tucker. However the top
vote getter, Jeff Tindle, had 2,246 more votes than Tucker, and Jack
Wiley had 1,878 more votes than the newcomer. Tindle was listed
first on the ballot, followed by Wiley, Plaas and then Tucker. The
top two candidates were so far ahead of the bottom two that it
appears voters were gravitating toward Tucker. I like to think the
people who make time to visit the polls are going in there knowing
how they will vote, or at least with some knowledge of the
candidates. Personally, I would never vote for someone I know
nothing about. Sherri Tucker never hid the fact that her only
platform was special education. She is the mother of a special-needs
son and is part of a group of 40 people who feel the R-7 district is
not providing adequate services for their special-needs children.

Tucker didn't go about this alone. Members of the Lee's Summit Autism
Support Group picked Tucker to run against the three incumbents.
This was her first time running for office, and she's pledged it's
not her last. Plaas and the others circled the wagons during the
campaign, supporting one another and alienating Tucker as a single-
issue candidate. Plaas said single-issue candidates belong on the
other side of the podium from school board members.

And to an extent, he's right, Candidates should be savvy enough to
know that and campaign accordingly. That doesn't mean the candidate
should never hold a single issue close to their heart. To me, that's
how the system works. If you think government isn't working, then run
for office or at least get involved. And when voters respond like
they did here, we should all take them seriously. I can't say whether
there's a problem with special education services in the R-7
district, but there's a growing movement of families out there who
are saying that. "I don't feel like we lost," Tucker told me during
a telephone interview. "We got our message out there and to me
that's a win."

I agree, and to run up right against sitting school board members in
Lee's Summit is admirable. The incumbents here are typically strong
candidates with almost instant support from community leaders. The
topic of special education is an emotional and complex one. These
students have different needs and different individualized education
programs. Some students have to find some services outside of the
district and some are able to stay in regular classrooms. The bottom
line is they are students, and they deserve as much attention as
anyone else.

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