By Ryan Miner
Herald-Mail Media published today a profound editorial today calling on the six-member school board nominating panel to “give preference to one who is above all a responsible citizen, who understands that politics is a public trust and not an arena for personal advancement and gratification” when considering Harshman’s replacement on the Washington County Board of Education.
The editorial challenged the appointment of Jerry DeWolf, the current chairman of the Washington County Republican Central Committee, to lead the nonpartisan school board panel, calling the all-Republican commissioners’ choice in DeWolf “disappointing.”
Those lessons, we trust, will lead to a new spirit on the board going forward. We hope that one and all can grow up a bit, and understand that democratic rule is dependent not on aggression, but on compromise. Everyone’s ideas count, not just those with whom we happen to agree.
To that end, the appointment of Republican Central Committee Chairman Jerry DeWolf to lead the panel assigned to pick a replacement for Harshman was disappointing. This is not a reflection on DeWolf, but the school board should be far removed from partisan politics.
DeWolf justified his appointment, saying that county voters want fiscally conservative Republicans in office. But the Central Committee has a spotty record on choosing replacements for elected officials, and need we remind everyone that agenda-driven partisanship is largely responsible for the current school board’s dysfunction.
Read the entire editorial here.
Last year, DeWolf created a hateful Facebook page that directly targeted former school board President Donna Brightman. DeWolf masked his identity but later admitted on his public Facebook page that he was behind the anti-Brightman page.
Moreover, DeWolf lied repeatedly in his postings on his hateful Facebook page, accusing me of colluding with Bruce Poole, the former interim chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, to take down the late Vincent G. “Woody” Spong from the commissioners’ Board. DeWolf has yet to issue a public apology for his untoward attacks on Brightman and myself.
The School Board Nominating Commission is expected to release tomorrow evening the eight Washington County registered voters who applied for the school board vacancy.
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