One-and-a-half endorsements for CUSD: vote for Lundell, consider Moseley

The CUSD board represents all citizens in the District. Whether or not you have children in the schools, the board represents your interests and has a big impact on your life. They’re spending your money, influence development patterns and property values, and are manage community facilities.

Based on the live forum I attended, their writings, and their participation on Coastsider’s candidates’ forum, I believe any of the three is capable of representing us on matters of education. For the most part, the board’s job is to let the superintendent, administrators, and teachers manage the teaching.

The board’s most important job is to ensure that our money is spent properly and that the district’s strategy is sound. And this is where the candidates differ most. Jonathan Lundell has demonstrated a thoughtful and creative approach, as well as an openness that is sorely needed on the board.

CUSD’s strategy is bound up with a couple of very emotional pieces of real estate (Wavecrest and the Cunha Middle School), and the one issue that divides coastsiders like no other—what we build and where we build it. This goes beyond Wavecrest to every building the district owns and others we haven’t even envisioned.

When I created Coastsider’s CUSD Candidates’ Forum, I made it clear to the candidates that I felt Wavecrest is a poor location for a middle school. Cunha is an important part of downtown.  The middle school helps make Main Street one of the few honest-to-God Bay Area downtowns. Cunha was the center of the community activities in the Pumpkin Festival, from the costume contest to the parade. I don’t want to lose that.

A middle school at Wavecrest may improve traffic flow and parking. But when you plan your community to serve automobile traffic and not people, the result is sprawl. Sprawl destroys communities. A middle school at Wavecrest will suck life out of our downtown and force more parents to drive their kids to school.

Jonathan Lundell is the only candidate that opposes the boneheaded decision to rip the middle school out of the heart of our community and plop it down on edge of town.

My decision is not based solely on Wavecrest, and yours shouldn’t be either.

It would be a mistake to think Lundell’s campaign is simply about Wavecrest or the new middle school. He has spent years studying and analyzing the issues that confront the district. His analysis is thoughtful, incisive, and original.

Jonathan Lundell’s vision of smaller schools located closer to our homes is indisputably correct. It would improve education, commuting, and family life for all coastsiders, not just those with children.

Finally, putting Jonathan Lundell on the CUSD board would force the board to conduct more of its business in public.  The best brake on abuse of secrecy is a member that does not share the board’s consensus.

You should vote for Lundell regardless of how you feel about the middle school. If you support the Wavecrest location, Lundell’s lone vote isn’t going to make a difference on that one issue. But his analytical skill,  support for local schools, independence, and fresh perspective will improve the board’s accountability to the community.

There are two open seats on the board, and it was a lot harder for me to make my second pick. 

If you believe, as I do, that Jonathan Lundell needs to be on the board, you should only vote for one candidate. For Lundell to win, either Moseley or Gardner must lose and they don’t need your support.

But, if you want to vote for one of the other two candidates, I recommend John Moseley as your second choice. He’s just as dedicated to Wavecrest as Gardner, but he’s a lot less contentious and the current school board clearly prefers Gardner.  If we’re going to heal the community, Moseley’s focus on working together to achieve the best results for our kids is the right one.