Before I get started...

To make sure we all know "the players":

Incumbents running for re-election...

• Danny Brown
• Brenda Gooden
• Carlandus Mallory
• Bobby Mayberry

Challengers seeking a first term...

• Mary Davis
• Delbert Irish
• Artie McBride
• Charlene Vaughn

What follows is MY OPINION on the April 7th Board of Education election...

Where to begin...

I guess since I have sub-labeled this post as "Point of Personal Privilege", the obvious place to start is with the most personal:

On November 19, 2002, two of the above incumbents running for re-election joined with four other (past and present) members of the Cairo Board of Education to fire Julie A. Newell for "incompetency". (Julie was widely recognized as one of the most competent individuals ever employed by Cairo School District Number One.) Those two candidates for re-election are Brenda Gooden and Carlandus Mallory.

Needless to say, I shall exercise my right to "return the favor" on April 7th and shall NOT vote for those two individuals.

And then there were six...

Actually, I have another - less personal - reason to vote against the two aforementioned individuals...a reason that will extend to two other candidates, eliminating them also from my voting list.

Remember when Presidential Candidate Ronald Reagan demolished Incumbent President Jimmy Carter at the close of their televised debate by posing a question to the potential voters, a question to ask themselves when they went into the voting booth to cast their ballot...

"Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

A damned good question...the perfect question that every voter should ask himself or herself when considering whether to return an office-holder to their position of trust.

All candidates for office make promises: "If elected, I shall blah, blah, blah."

Will they?

For four of the individuals above...the "challengers", it is a question that cannot be answered. We will have to exercise a "gut feeling" since they have never held the office.

However, for four of the individuals above, it is a question that CAN be answered since they are four of the seven individuals that currently serve as the Cairo Board of Education.

We CAN legitimately "pass judgment" on four of the eight people running for this office, since they currently make up a majority of the Cairo Board of Education. They had it within their power to make the decisions that have governed the District for the past four years. (Actually, Bobby Mayberry was an appointee and has served approximately two years.)

So, look around...

During the next 24 hours, take stock.

What do you think of the current "state of the district"?

Two things stand out to me:

• Cairo School District Number One has four (4) employee unions representing the teachers, the teacher aides, the clerical employees, and the custodial/maintenance personnel. The contracts for these groups expired on June 30, 2008. As of today - OVER 9 MONTHS LATER - not one of these groups has a new contract! New human life has literally gone from "a gleam in a daddy's eyes" to a wailing bundle of joy since those contracts expired.

• Last year, the Cairo Board of Education had to make a decision...which is what they are elected to do. That decision...who would be the next Superintendent of Schools? They had a choice...employ Bill Rogers, former long-time Cairo teacher and Cairo principal (of both Emerson and Bennett Elementaries) and former Superintendent of the Giant City School District, OR issue a "cattle call"...choose a "pig-in-a-poke". Instead of choosing Bill Rogers, a person with a lifetime of dedication and service to the residents of Cairo, the incumbent Cairo Board of Education chose Leotis D. Swopes...giving him $100,000, a house to live in, and paying up to $300 per month in utilities. Based upon the "performance" of the new superintendent - burning the bridge to Meridian, burning bridges to his employees, taking actions resulting in legal action being filed against the District - well, to continue my barnyard analogy, I'd say that the Cairo Board of Education gave the employees and residents of Cairo "a bum steer".

And then there were four...

Does that mean that Ron Newell is casting his ballot for the four "challengers"?

Hey, my vote is private!

Yes, I'm leaning in that direction, but it's not "a given". As you enter the voting booth tomorrow, remember...you do NOT have to vote for four candidates. You can vote for one, two, three, or four...just do NOT vote for more than four or you will disqualify your ballot.

For very good reason, incumbents tend to take the voter for granted. For example...up until a few years ago, people constantly complained about Congress, yet re-elected upward of 90% of the rascals...the bums. And you wonder why they ignore voters and continue to "lie, cheat, and steal"?

I'm sorry to say, that I have voted for every one of the current members of the Cairo Board of Education...including the two that fired my wife!

You see, at one point in time, the "incumbents" were "challengers". I listened to their "campaign promises". I gave them "my trust"...and got my fingers burned.

There's the old saying..."Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

To borrow the theme from CSI Miami by The Who...this old retired CAT "Won't Get Fooled Again!"

(As I said in Cairo BOE Election I, I just can't help my "sense of humor". In accordance with my "CSI Miami Theme", I would point out that the incumbent BOE members' "fingerprints" are all over the crime that is Cairo School District Number One! I'm sure we could get plenty of DNA from the eating untensils left after their nightly meal.)

It would send a wonderful "wake-up call" to BOTH incumbents and challengers if the voters would unseat the incumbents...putting the newly elected BOE members on notice that the voters are finally watching...