It was a great victory for the forces of righteousness on Feb. 16. Thank goodness Lance McDaniel was recalled from his position on the Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 school board by a 2-1 margin.
This should put an end to the dire happenings that prompted the recall. True, McDaniel wasn’t accused of embezzling money, missing meetings, speaking rudely to the other members, or anything actually related to his duties on the board. But his sins were even more heinous. He voiced his personal opinions on social media. And he made a joke about the naming of a park in Cortez! Unforgivable.
No school-board member should ever be permitted to voice opinions on social media, because schoolchildren are absolutely fascinated by the views of school-board members and are eager to follow them on Facebook or wherever.
Now, thanks to the recall, the hundreds of children who we assume were following McDaniel’s posts will never want to see his opinions, likes or dislikes again. They will be safe from his progressive views.
McDaniel did a number of other bizarre and questionable things. He dressed up as Santa Claus at Christmas time and did 50 Zoom appearances for kids, in return expecting a donation to be made to the Four Corners Child Advocacy Center. Who would want someone like that in a position of authority?
And don’t forget that he regularly delivered pizza to a school lunch club devoted to addressing bullying and preventing suicide. McDaniel’s critics were rightly concerned about that practice. We assume this recall will put an end to his “active involvement” with the club. It’s wrong for citizens to deliver pizza to school groups, unless the group getting the pizza is the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at MCHS. That’s different.
This vote needs to be publicized widely. Re-1 is in the process of looking for a new superintendent. Let’s make sure that all potential candidates hear about this recall. Once they see what serious kinds of issues our local citizens care about, potential superintendents should be eager to come here.
We hope there will be many more such recalls in our area. It taught all of us the way to behave. Let’s face it: Any time a person whose political views aren’t widely popular — someone who is different — is elected or appointed to a board, someone should do something about it, and right away. We can’t have diversity on boards, we need to fix that! Things go more smoothly if everyone thinks alike. And why wait until the next regularly scheduled election? There is way too much time between normal voting opportunities.
So get out, gather signatures, and launch a recall! It’s not difficult, most people will sign anything when asked. There are plenty of school districts and special districts in the area and they can easily afford to pony up the money for special elections. And our clerk and recorder’s office is very bored, with little to do otherwise.
Yes, Feb. 16 was a great victory. Hip, hip, hoorah!
