Letters to the Editor (Nov. 5)

Johnson for City Council District 1

I would like to encourage my fellow District 1 voters to support the candidacy of Brandon Johnson for City Council.

The Eagle has printed several terrific letters endorsing Johnson for his track record of impressive achievement, his effective problem solving, and his willingness to collaborate; all of which are important to me.

To that list I would add responsiveness. I have been amazed by his efforts to reach out to us in town halls, on the phone, on Facebook — wherever we are. He asks what we think and what concerns us, then offers thoughtful responses. Not sound bites, not canned answers.

In an era when our elected officials actively avoid us, Johnson’s approach is a breath of fresh air and augurs well for the future.

Claycomb for City Council District 6

Civic engagement is critical to democracy. It is critical that we seek first to understand before trying to be understood. My belief in these ideals are the underpinnings of my support for Cindy Claycomb for Wichita City Council.

I have participated with her in a couple of community initiatives and in every effort, she created opportunities for community input through surveys and stakeholder meetings. She listened to what the concerns were and used the needs and hopes of the community to help shape successful community change.

Claycomb listens and learns first, but doesn’t get stuck there; she mobilizes others, builds consensus and acts. Her decades of community service, intellect and university experience create a resume that makes her remarkably qualified to lead through service to the City Council. It is Claycomb’s approach to the work that has earned my trust and support.

Hedrick for school board District 2

As I was preparing my daily lessons inside an old Wichita elementary school in 1999, I was alarmed by an unexpected early morning tornado. At the time, there were no children in my classroom or our building, but I later discovered that several children and teachers at Jefferson Elementary narrowly escaped injury from a tornado that ripped apart their campus portable classroom.

Many hours I have crouched in school hallways or bathrooms with my students during tornado warnings, knowing that if an F4 or F5 struck our school, many of us would be severely injured or killed.

Parents trust teachers to keep their children safe and, at times, that is as important as mastering our daily learning objectives. With Julie Hedrick’s diligence and expertise as director of design and construction for Wichita public schools, a plan was crafted to put safe rooms that could withstand an F5 tornado at every school in the district. That plan was completed last spring.

Thank you, Julie, for placing student safety first. I will be voting for you to join the Wichita school board.

Chappell for school board District 6

I have known Walt Chappell for years. Once elected, he will make an excellent addition to the Wichita school board.

Walt has the common sense and business experience to see through vague answers from bureaucrats who try to hide how they are spending our tax dollars. Then, his skills in budget analysis and understanding of the school-finance formula will help the board do a better job of making sure that our hard-earned money actually benefits students and teachers instead of the latest education fad or hiring more administrators.

He has also drafted various bills in the Kansas Legislature and is often asked by the chairs of various legislative committees to go to Topeka to testify. One of those bills he helped write has paid the college tuition of thousands of Kansas high school students to earn industrial recognized certificates so they can qualify for good-paying jobs as soon as they graduate.

If we are going to see improvements in how and what our students learn, we need to elect Walt. His years of experience and passion for education will benefit each of the 50,000 students in Wichita.

Butler for Andover school board

Tuesday, we vote to fill a position on the Andover school board. One candidate is touting her experience of being on the board for 30 years. That is laudable, but are the same old ideas the best ones for our kids? Schools, kids and education are always changing. The school district needs to be able to innovate and adapt. Schools have problems that weren’t an issue 30 years ago. How kids learn and interact is different from even 10 years ago, and topics such as school security are new within the last 20 years.

It’s time that we voted for some new talent on the school board. Lee Butler is a dad and husband who has two children in Andover schools. He has some great ideas to bring in hands-on learning to the kids in the school district. Lee wants to partner with local companies to bring more opportunities to the students without raising taxes. Lee believes government needs to be transparent, and that everyone’s voice needs to be heard by the school board.

Trump is bettering Americans’ lives

Noting the supporting letter for Davis Merritt’s column last week, perhaps we should address some truths. This week’s irritating column barely begun, Merritt used “irrationality and crude cruelty” in describing President Trump.

The nasty words and descriptions are of a man who is doing his best to better the lives of all citizens. With opposition from the swamp that yet needs to be drained, his accomplishments include a 16-year low in unemployment and a military policy that has narrowed the influence of ISIS. Under Trump, the economy is stronger, government regulations are diminishing, and our border laws are being enforced.

It is interesting that the first to be forced from the swamp are Republicans? To them I say good riddance. Allow voters to find better replacements. Our president will not accept (nor should we) the “new normal” professed by the writer and his ilk. This is even more obvious since the terrorist act in New York. Let us hope that Trump has just begun the fight and the nasty descriptions can be turned around to describe Merritt.

The better voters spoke loudly last November. Let’s hope they do it again and in greater numbers.

This story was originally published November 5, 2017 at 6:01 AM with the headline "Letters to the Editor (Nov. 5)."