Coastsider endorses John Moseley for school board

It’s easy to endorse John Moseley for the board of the Cabrillo Unified School District.  He has shown dedication to the board, puts the education of our children ahead of all other priorities, is easy to work with, and has managed to remain a centrist in a polarized environment.

John proved his level-headedness this summer, when he alone among the school board’s members voted against a resolution of support for AB1991—Half Moon Bay’s bailout bill that enriched a single developer by exchanging decades of environmental protections for cash. John didn’t express an opinion one way or the other on the bill, but he did say that the vote would unnecessarily polarize the community.  This is a commonsense position that demonstrates that John’s sole priority is the district and its students.

The job of the board is to hire and supervise the district’s superintendent. The superintendent runs the district and sets the policies, which should serve one purpose: the education of the community’s children. The board member’s fiduciary duty is to make sure the superintendent spends the taxpayers’ education money wisely. The board should be made up of smart, hardworking, representative people who are not confused about their duty and who—whenever possible—avoid running amok.

I recommend you vote only for John Moseley although there is one other open position on the board and two other candidates.

In the 2006 CUSD board election I said you should only vote for Ken Johnson if you felt the need to vote for every open position on the ballot. I’m more certain of this in 2008 than in 2006.  Ken is a better gadfly than he would be a board member. Ken has always been more ready to offer criticisms than concrete proposals for improving the schools, and that is my principal reason for not endorsing him. This year, he also showed poor judgment this year in squatting on the expired "electmoseley.com" domain with a website that suggested he was running with John Moseley, but that’s merely a sideshow.

Incumbent Charlie Gardner is a self-described "infrastructure advocate" who is on the board of a pro-development advocacy organization on the Coastside, plumped for the controversial Big Wave development while other CUSD board members were fighting for a parcel tax, has been working tirelessly for a wrong-headed highway bypass to solve traffic problems created in part by the school district, vigorously defends the CUSD’s divisive vote to support AB1991, has worked behind the scenes on various other development projects.  I don’t believe Charlie understands the depth of the conflict of interest between his desire for more development on the Coastside and the needs of our school district.

Vote for John Moseley on Nov 4, and feel good about your decision. And then ask yourself why don’t more qualified moderates run for our school board?