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Following Republican Fred Kittle's announcement and qualification for the District 4 seat on the Bartow County school board, current representative Wanda Cagle Gray announced she will seek re-election as an independent.
Gray, who was outspoken during the most recent school board meeting, released this statement:
As a conservative I have made decisions based on principle all of my adult life and not what is really best for me. With that being said I will be running for re-election to the Bartow County Board of Education, District 4, as an independent candidate. I will be qualifying in July. Why? The majority of school boards throughout the State of Georgia including our local city board are non-partisan boards. School boards do not vote party platforms, school boards vote for children's best interest. My constituents are reminding me on a continual basis that they will vote for the best person in the general election in November regardless of party lines to represent their children's best interest.
As a public school board member I will continue to hold people accountable for their behavior and I will "stand in the gap" for children and/or adults. I base my decisions on evidence not opinion. I was voted into office in 2008 to be a 100 percent advocate for public education. I feel I have exemplified what a public school board member is suppose to do by trying my best to represent children in the Bartow County School System. I look forward to serving our precious children in Bartow County Schools again.
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Larry
3:38 pm on Tuesday, May 29, 2012
I fear this decision. Most of the people I know blindly vote on a party line. As long as there is a Republican on the ballot, they will vote for them, regardless of their stand on anything. Just look at the state level to prove this...
Mike Mitchell
9:44 pm on Tuesday, May 29, 2012
With the Republican party producing a candidate like Mitt Romney for president, who needs them. She is conservative and that is what matters. The Republican party sure is not these days.
Melissa H.
7:15 am on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Mr. Mitchell, with all due respect, the local GOP is very conservative. Ms. Gray is opposed to school choice and recently told an officer in the local party that all home and charter schools should be shut down and that public school is the only legitimate way to educate children (I am paraphrasing here, maybe he can be more specific). I do not believe that is a conservative stand. There has been a divide between some members of the school board and the local GOP ever since the board used taxpayer dollars to sue the state and local GOP over a nepotism statute. The "republican" board is about to raise our property taxes. That is not conservative either.
Howard Johnson
10:46 am on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Melissa,
Although it is possible that your recollection of someone else's recollection of a conversation that may or may not have taken place might be spot on accurate, I would respectfully suggest that you are doing no one any favors by relating it here. Also, even thought there may be a majority of Republicans who are very Conservative, no one could Patriotically argue that only GOP "Very Conservatives" and only their ideas deserve representation on the Board. Is one Board member who can think on her own really that much of a threat to you?
Melissa H.
12:15 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Larry, given that you usually argue for the liberal side of things, I will take your comments with a grain of salt.
I have no problem with board members that think for themselves. On the contrary...I would love to see one of them stand up and do the right thing on the illegal board appointment. I have yet to see any of them make a statement about the legality of the appointment.
I wish Ms. Gray well, but she is not a conservative.
As to only having "very conservative" board members...there isn't a truly conservative person on the school board, to my knowledge. Otherwise we would not have unanimous consent to raise property taxes.
Howard Johnson
7:23 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Melissa, I like to think that I argue for the practical, compassionate, thoughtful, sensible, loving, inclusive, tolerant, and truthful side of things. But I see how that might seem liberal to you, since anyone on the squishy side of that massive tax raising RINO Ronald Reagan is probably too liberal for you to tolerate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Equity_and_Fiscal_Responsibility_Act_of_1982
Katherine M
1:08 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
The bottom line is that Wanda has burned bridges with everyone... Democrats (she used to be one)... Republicans (she used to be one)... I admire her for standing up to the backroom manipulations and dishonesty of Davis Nelson, but her outbursts at the last BOE meeting plus her husband being thrown out of the meeting for threatening other board members just shows it time for her to go. Fred Kittles is a good guy, well respected, and will be able to best represent that BOE district. And Greg Bowen is a former board chair who will do a great job representing the Adaisrville district. (No offense to Anna Sullivan but she is an illegal appointment and her refusal to step aside disqualifies her from serious consideration in the Adairsville race) Things on the BOE ran smoothly when Bowen served before. Fred and Greg will put the BOE back on the path to peace and quiet... not by caving in the Davis Nelson's junk... but by providing real leadership.
Matt Shultz
12:20 pm on Saturday, June 2, 2012
I just wanted to encourage all of my Adairsville friends to vote on July 31st (twice: Special Election & Primary Election) for Greg Bowen. His integrity, experience and leadership is needed now more than ever to bring common sense back to the Bartow County School board. I know he will work well with Wanda Cagle Gray to make sure that accountability & student achievement return as the core mission of the board.
Bill Thrasher
4:43 pm on Saturday, June 2, 2012
Greg Bowen is an outstanding and hard working individual who will bring the same level of hard work to the board that he has to his business.