By Marc Sanschagrin PNA Board rookie
Although I must confess to being flattered just to be listed as one of Santa Monica’s leaders (a bit of a stretch), I feel I must take issue with Mr. Bauer’s line of reasoning in insisting that I was rewriting history (SMDP, Feb. 6, page 4).
Fact: Peter (Tigler) and Don (Gray) were very active and very effective as Pico Neighborhood Association leaders on issues such as graffiti, green space and traffic flow. I can only hope that I am even half as effective as they were.
However, that does not change the fact that they also moonlighted as anti-education radicals, campaigning against any school funding issue that did not meet with their personal litmus test.
Fact: The neighborhoods within PNA voted in higher percentages for both school funding measures than did any other neighborhood group in the city — nearly 80 percent. Therefore, on that issue Don and Peter were out of touch with their constituency.
The folks that showed up that morning and cast their votes were acting within the bylaws of PNA. Those that I spoke to expressed a strong sense of commitment to public schools in general and their neighborhood schools in particular. I do not remember running into Mr. Bauer that day, so I’m not sure what exactly his source of information on this issue is.
And since when is a person’s sense of justice, social or otherwise — to be questioned by those who do not know them? Mr. Bauer appears to sit pretty much up on high and cast judgments off as casually as parking tickets. Get to know people first hand before judging them, Bill, if you must judge them at all.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 9, 2004. Read the original PDF.