By John Petz Santa Monica Water under the bridge Editor: political spectrum, I have known him for 10 years and know him to be a dedicated and hardworking supporter of our children and our public schools.
Today I received a mailer from CEPS which rated the City Council candidates and which stated that David is not a “reliable school supporter.” While I strongly support and appreciate the work CEPS is doing in our community, I am concerned about the fairness of its candidate rating process.
David Cole may not be the pick of SMRR or the Chamber of Commerce, he may be outspoken and ruffle some people’s feathers, but when it comes to supporting our schools his record of service is long and distinguished.
He served as PTA president at McKinley, PTA vice president at Lincoln, and was vice president of the Santa Monica-Malibu PTA Council. He was also an active member of the SMMUSD childcare taskforce, and the district’s Prop ES oversight committee.
In addition to all of this, he co-founded “Save our Playgrounds,” an organization which succeeded in keeping playgrounds open for children when the district introduced a wrong-headed program that kicked kids off the playgrounds after school and charged parents $100 a month for one hour a day of after-school play.
He also co-founded “Citizens for School District Reform” a group which spearheaded the move for positive changes in the district and which helped pave the way for the arrival of Superintendent John Deasy and the election of new school board members. And to top it all off, he is on record as being in support of increased city funding for schools.
Yet somehow he has been given a “no” rating by CEPS. Just to point out how absurd this is, take a look at how CEPS treated Chamber of Commerce backed Candidate Kathryn Morea. She is a person who, in addition to having no history of support for our schools, publicly refused to sign the CEPS pledge and walked out of the CEPS candidate meeting. Yet according to the CEPS mailer she gets a “yes” rating as a reliable supporter of public schools while David Cole does not.
It just doesn’t add up. If you look at the facts it becomes clear that CEPS was wrong to give David a “no” rating and unfairly tarnish his reputation. And I’m sure many of their members know it.
It is my sincere hope that, in the future, CEPS will take the high road and assess candidates based solely on their support for public schools instead of allowing personal animosities or other political considerations to come into play.
If they do, school supporters like David Cole will always get the thumbs up they deserve.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 30, 2004. Read the original PDF.