I thought that Jim Kach said that he would not run for school board position if he was picked as a tempory rep for Madbury.Do others remeber this or am I wrong.
As of the day before the deadline, there was no Madbury candidate, so I think we can be grateful to have 2 to choose from. I really hope this site does not become a forum to speak poorly of those who have volunteered.
Someone just asked a question , they did not speak poorly about someone. I do belive that people should stand by thier word. Now that Madbury has a candidate Mr Kach has the chance to do just that.
Lookihg back at the notice of the school board it stated that Mr Kach could run for the open seat on the school board. I'm happy to see that Madbury will have a voice at the table. Thanks to Mr Kach and Ms Willer.
Jim Kach has, by all accounts, done a terrific job in his brief time as a school board member. Why would anyone object to him running again, and attempt to discredit him in this way?
I do try to pay attention, and I cannot recall him ever saying that he wouldn't run. I'm not sure I believe anyone who says he did, especially when they make these accusations anonymously.
Please join me on facebook "Vote Megan Turnbull for School Board" to learn more about me. I am excited and prepared to serve this district. No nastiness, just a friendly, professional approach...that's what I will strive for in serving as School Board member. Thank you!
Why wouldn't you want someone like Jim Kach on the School Board - he works hard, asks good questions, communicates frequently with the public, and wants to understand and minimize budget increases.
Who cares what he said or didnt say about running. Things change. The important thing is to have a School Board with members possessing Jim's qualities.
‘Thanks to all for their comments. At this juncture, I am not running for any office. Having said that, if there are any questions you would like to address, please feel free to contact me via e-mail, by phone, or drop over for a cup of coffee.’ I posted that on August 16th, 2010. At that time, I had no intention of running for the school board. Some folks even suggested that I run for the at-large position, but that did not interest me. I stepped forward and volunteered for the board after more that a month of no one willing to do so. I was upset that no one was willing to devote the time and energy to public service for their own town. I was also upset that most of the offices up for election were uncontested positions. Granted, I would have no doubt voted for them any way; it’s just the principal of an uncontested race that troubles me. So, on Friday (the filing deadline), not knowing if anyone else was running I filed to prevent the board having to appoint someone to fill a position that would normally be an elected one. As it stands now, Madbury will have an elected representation. I am very happy that Ms. Susan Willer has come forward to run in this election. The real winner here is the town of Madbury Not only will we have an elected representative, but that position is now contested. For those who disagree with what I have done, here is your choice to voice that disagreement
Jim, Thank you for your service and the work you have done on the board to date. I agree with David..... things do change and your insight and experience are helpful to the work of the board. I do appreciate the question regarding the original stated intent not to run, but equally understand and respect why you have thrown your name into the ring. As I have said many times, attacks are a waste of time and simply a distraction from real conversations. Wouldn't it be nice if we could live by the example we teach our children, and refrain from attacks. Thank you, Kim Clark
Also running Chandler Hull this young man is a recent grad from orhs. He was class president and very involved in many aspects orhs and beyound. Chandler earned the respect of students and teachers alike with his ability to listen and represent the whole student body.He was in the top ten grads of 2010. He would be a great asset to the school board as thier role should be the education of our students.
Mr Hull is an adult running for elected office.I belive he would bring great insight about the education at or. We should remember that is the boards job. I think to compare that to a student rep is insulting but that seems to be a theme here.
Student reps do not vote. Mr. Hull is running for an actual seat on the school board where he could be a voting member, representing the community at large, not one small segment. I applaud his commitment to his alma mater and desire to serve and wish him the best. A recent graduate could offer great insight on many aspects of curriculum, hiring, and academic achievement. Certainly someone as impressive as Mr. Hull, who I believe was Valedictorian, could be a strong asset to the board.
A school board member does not just represent the high school student body. Does Mr. Hull pay taxes? Does Mr. Hull have children in school? Seems Mr. Hull is just going to duplicate the student rep, but have a vote as well.
He does not have enough life experience to take such a position. My vote will go to someone will more experience.
It sounds like Mr. Hull is indeed a strong student and is to be commended for this. However when it comes to the work of the district, I would prefer a board member who has finished their studies and will focus on studying the work of our district. I am sure Mr. Hull can balance both, but do believe the current student rep as well as students on most hiring commitees within schools (do they still do that?) covers the student voice which I do also agree is one to be heard. To support Mr. Hull at this time is to not see the voice that needs to be heard which is that of parents within the district that desire better programs and services for their child. I wish him well in his future political pursuits.
There are plenty of items for discussion that require great maturity [many of which are behind closed doors to the public] that I do not feel comfortable putting into the hands of a recent graduate who may still have great contact with current high school students.
At 18 you can fight and die for this country. If you are mature enough to do that, then I think you're mature enough to hold an elected office and be respectful of privacy laws.
But yet not have alcohol.....maturity is not garenteed at 18. Lovely that he wants to serve his community. Perhaps one he is better suited for, equal to experience.
** But yet not have alcohol ** An ingenious point. That is pretty much the only freedom about which an 18-yr is not considered mature enough to make their own decisions. Why not stick to comparing the merits of the candidates rather than attacking one on a point that the law clearly settles?
Many of you seem to think a flip is switched at 21 giving them more maturity, intelligence and legitimacy than a younger perhaps more qualified contender. Lets please judge candidates on the merit of their ideas and the ways they can be of service to the community. Chandler Hull will bring necessary insight into the school board. Yes, he does not pay taxes, but he understands the schools better than any candidate could. We need a well rounded board for the betterment of the school, the community and the students, we already have several board members who pay taxes and don't understand the schools, lets even it out.
To Whom it may concern, u all seemed very concerned about hull. i am actually concerned about ann lane. Just becuase she wass the mayor of the cooking commitee she thinks that she is some sort of hotshot. She will not be receiving my vote, as i plan to just write in batman like i do in every election.
Please let's keep this blog a productive avenue for discussion. We all need to take our part in making our district a more positive environment. I invite you all to come to Candidates Night next Tuesday 2/15, 7:00pm at ORHS in the multipurpose room to hear from the candidates themselves, why they are running, and what their vision is for the district. Looking forward to seeing you all there!
To Whom It May Concern, first try to stop writing in text speak. Second, Ann Lane was not mayor of a cooking committee???!! She was chair of the Moharimet PTO. Get your facts straight. Can we PULEEZZZZ keep this positive. All candidates have a right to run. We don't even know what ANY of them stand for until we see them at candidates night. All this stuff is just stuff, n i m srs hre, lol :)
An earlier post above said that Chandler Hull was the Valedictorian for his senior class. Chandler Hull was an exemplary student with significant accomplishments. However, he was not the Valedictorian of his senior class. See http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100609/GJCOMMUNITY_01/706099992/-1/FOSCOMMUNITY04.
Chandler was something like .002 points from being valedictorian. THat being said, once you meet him, Chandler is a very mature individual. It isn't easy winning the hearts of an entire class at ORHS. He not only did that, he easily crossed the divides that separate the students at the HS. From the jocks to the sci-fi nerds, he befriended everyone and the entire school, teachers and staff included, love him for who he is, not who he pretends to be. Gaining the respect of every faculty member from the AP teachers to the shop teacher is no easy feat. That is why he was given the Special Faculty Award by the ORHS faculty (please correct me if I am wrong)
You go Chandler. You got my vote (and my parents' too).
mayor of the cookie bake off (or whatever was said) Ms. Blabbermouth who posts to this blog every 10 minutes Mr. Jim who hasn't met a cut in school programs he didn't like
No thanks.
I'll choose fresh faces who are NOT divisive:
business owner in Madbury and parent of an ORHS grad (Susan) professor at UNH who is well educated and teaches (John) mature young man with a calm demeanor and lots of ideas (Chandler).
I'll support the outsiders, not the same old staleness.
If you are really thinking of supporting John Collins for SB, then you ought to be aware of the following, as reported by the Nashua Telegraph (http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/business/898985-192/profs-defamation-suit-against-unh-tossed.html#):
John Collins, a tenured professor at the University of New Hampshire, filed a civil action against UNH after an incident on the campus that led to Collins’ arrest June 29, 2007, for disorderly conduct and stalking.
Collins was the chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the College of Life Science and Agriculture at UNH. Collins did not get along with another professor in that department, Stacia Sower, or her lab technician, Bernadine Schultz.
On the morning of June 28, 2007, Collins received a parking ticket for parking in the loading zone adjacent to Rudman Hall in excess of a 30-minute time limit. Suspecting Sower or Schultz of reporting the violation, he went to Sower’s office, but she was not there. Collins went to the elevator to go to his office and there were two individuals waiting to enter the elevator: Schultz and a graduate student. An exchange occurred between Collins and Schultz where Schultz, noticing Collins seemed upset, encouraged him to share his feelings and “let them out.” Collins responded in a tirade of epithets directly toward Sower including saying, “I could kill the (explicative)” loudly several times, and he kicked a large trash can in apparent anger.
After his outburst, Collins said sarcastically, “There, I feel much better.”
As a result of that outburst, Collins was arrested and removed from his position at UNH.
And This (http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090618/GJNEWS_01/706189782/-1/FOSNEWS)DURHAM — Police are disputing a University of New Hampshire professor's claims that he was sitting only a short distance away from his car when an officer arrested him Saturday morning for allegedly leaving his infant son unattended inside the vehicle.
Police say that a passerby on Main Street alerted them about the infant and say officers who entered the vehicle observed that the infant was suffering from heat-related signs of distress.
The father, John J. Collins, 55, of 59 Belle Lane in Lee, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child. He plans to plead not guilty.
A guy who bursts into an expletive-filled tirade at a co-worker and who doesn't know or care enough to take his baby with him when he parks his car? Thanks, but I'll take ANYONE else.
When my husband, John Collins, decided to run for School Board, we were prepared to have his past “legal issues” resurface. We thought about it and decided that we should not let that stop him from striving to make a difference in our community. While it is true that John was arrested on two counts in June of 2007 for an incident at the university, it is also true that he was found “not guilty” on both counts. The judge even called the proceeding to a halt before all the defense witnesses had been heard, stating “I think I’ve heard enough.” The prosecution simply did not have a case. The above article states that he was removed from his position at UNH. That is not true. John remains an extremely well-liked professor at UNH. The details of this case are extremely complex with subtleties and nuances that I won’t bother to describe here (unless the anonymous posters continue their attacks and I feel the need to). Suffice it to say, that the other professor involved has a long history of harassing and threatening faculty. John’s behavior in this incident was in response to many years of torment to himself, his friends, and his colleagues by this woman. He had simply had enough. That doesn’t condone the outburst, but it does help explain it. As evidence to this, over 40 of his colleagues signed a letter to the Provost urging him to halt the university’s actions against John. More than two dozen fellow faculty came to the court hearings on his behalf. The message from the faculty of COLSA was that John was not the one to be feared. Again, he was found “not guilty” and as I understand the law, that is as good as never having been arrested. Please see below for my comments on the second issue.
It is true that John was arrested for an incident involving our son in June of 2009. It is also true that he was found “not guilty” here as well. After going through this ordeal, I realized that I can never again believe anything that I read in the papers. The details of this incident were incredibly distorted. John did not put our son in danger. Our son did not suffer any heat related distress. Our son was not left unattended. What DID happen was that John sat at an outside table at Breaking New Grounds in Durham drinking coffee while our son napped in the car IN FULL VIEW of John. A bystander noticed our son in the car sleeping and called the police. When the police officer arrived, John ran over to ask what was wrong. The well-intentioned officer asked him to open the car door. She removed our son from the car. Our son was understandably upset at being awakened from his nap by a complete stranger and started crying. He did not show signs of heat related distress. He was not lethargic. Instead he so violently protested to being held by a complete stranger that the police officer was forced to return him to John. When he calmed down, he was taken from John again to be evaluated by the EMS team, at which point he started hysterically crying again. They took his temperature several times and it was normal. He was not at all dehydrated. He was a young child in clear distress from being taken away from his father. Although they found no evidence of heat related distress that could not be explained by his crying (an elevated respiration rate), he was taken away from John and brought to the emergency room. John was not allowed to go with him. When he got there, the doctor found no evidence of heat related distress. He did not have a temperature and he was not dehydrated, despite having cried most of the 20 minute ride to the hospital. While I do not criticize the people involved in this case, they were trying to do the right thing, I am certain that my son was not suffering from any distress until the police officer opened the car door. While I may not have made the same choice, John did not put our son in danger. He was watching him the entire time. I’m sure this comment will evoke criticism. But I do not believe that people who are found “not guilty” should feel the need to hide or hang their heads in shame. John has his faults, like anyone, but he is an excellent father and he was an excellent, well-respected School Board member. We were prepared to address these concerns when he decided to run because we believe he can make a difference. Thanks for reading and sorry it is so long! For those concerned with the real issues in this election, take a look at John’s website: www.johncollinsforschoolboard.com.
Thanks for the explanation. despite the mean diatribes, I remember the good work John did when he was on the board in years past.
I plan to vote for him. I am not going to cast my vote to any of the "gang" who purport to support the schools but instead seem to divide the community.
I thought that Jim Kach said that he would not run for school board position if he was picked as a tempory rep for Madbury.Do others remeber this or am I wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou're correct...he drank the funny juice:)
ReplyDeleteAs of the day before the deadline, there was no Madbury candidate, so I think we can be grateful to have 2 to choose from. I really hope this site does not become a forum to speak poorly of those who have volunteered.
ReplyDeleteSomeone just asked a question , they did not speak poorly about someone. I do belive that people should stand by thier word. Now that Madbury has a candidate Mr Kach has the chance to do just that.
ReplyDeleteLookihg back at the notice of the school board
ReplyDeleteit stated that Mr Kach could run for the open
seat on the school board. I'm happy to see that
Madbury will have a voice at the table. Thanks to
Mr Kach and Ms Willer.
Jim Kach has, by all accounts, done a terrific job in his brief time as a school board member. Why would anyone object to him running again, and attempt to discredit him in this way?
ReplyDeleteI do try to pay attention, and I cannot recall him ever saying that he wouldn't run. I'm not sure I believe anyone who says he did, especially when they make these accusations anonymously.
Go for it, Jim! You have my vote.
Why do people get so nasty when someone just asked a question? Enough already!
ReplyDeleteLets hear about some of the other candidates-
maybe they could introduce themselfs
Please join me on facebook "Vote Megan Turnbull for School Board" to learn more about me. I am excited and prepared to serve this district. No nastiness, just a friendly, professional approach...that's what I will strive for in serving as School Board member. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAlso...please visit my web site for more specifics about my background and goals:
ReplyDeletehttp://meganturnbull.com
Why wouldn't you want someone like Jim Kach on the School Board - he works hard, asks good questions, communicates frequently with the public, and wants to understand and minimize budget increases.
ReplyDeleteWho cares what he said or didnt say about running. Things change. The important thing is to have a School Board with members possessing Jim's qualities.
David Proulx
‘Thanks to all for their comments. At this juncture, I am not running for any office. Having said that, if there are any questions you would like to address, please feel free to contact me via e-mail, by phone, or drop over for a cup of coffee.’
ReplyDeleteI posted that on August 16th, 2010. At that time, I had no intention of running for the school board. Some folks even suggested that I run for the at-large position, but that did not interest me. I stepped forward and volunteered for the board after more that a month of no one willing to do so.
I was upset that no one was willing to devote the time and energy to public service for their own town. I was also upset that most of the offices up for election were uncontested positions. Granted, I would have no doubt voted for them any way; it’s just the principal of an uncontested race that troubles me.
So, on Friday (the filing deadline), not knowing if anyone else was running I filed to prevent the board having to appoint someone to fill a position that would normally be an elected one.
As it stands now, Madbury will have an elected representation. I am very happy that Ms. Susan Willer has come forward to run in this election. The real winner here is the town of Madbury Not only will we have an elected representative, but that position is now contested. For those who disagree with what I have done, here is your choice to voice that disagreement
Jim,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your service and the work you have done on the board to date.
I agree with David..... things do change and your insight and experience are helpful to the work of the board.
I do appreciate the question regarding the original stated intent not to run, but equally understand and respect why you have thrown your name into the ring.
As I have said many times, attacks are a waste of time and simply a distraction from real conversations.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could live by the example we teach our children, and refrain from attacks.
Thank you,
Kim Clark
Also running Chandler Hull this young man is a recent grad from orhs. He was class president and very involved in many aspects orhs and beyound.
ReplyDeleteChandler earned the respect of students and teachers alike with his ability to listen and
represent the whole student body.He was in the top ten grads of 2010. He would be a great asset to the school board as thier role should be the education of our students.
Doesn't the school board already have a student rep for this purpose? Just sayin'
ReplyDeleteMr Hull is an adult running for elected office.I belive he would bring great insight about the education at or. We should remember that is the boards job. I think to compare that to a student rep is insulting but that seems to be a theme here.
ReplyDeleteStudent reps do not vote. Mr. Hull is running for an actual seat on the school board where he could be a voting member, representing the community at large, not one small segment. I applaud his commitment to his alma mater and desire to serve and wish him the best. A recent graduate could offer great insight on many aspects of curriculum, hiring, and academic achievement. Certainly someone as impressive as Mr. Hull, who I believe was Valedictorian, could be a strong asset to the board.
ReplyDeleteA school board member does not just represent the high school student body. Does Mr. Hull pay taxes? Does Mr. Hull have children in school? Seems Mr. Hull is just going to duplicate the student rep, but have a vote as well.
ReplyDeleteHe does not have enough life experience to take such a position. My vote will go to someone will more experience.
It sounds like Mr. Hull is indeed a strong student and is to be commended for this.
ReplyDeleteHowever when it comes to the work of the district, I would prefer a board member who has finished their studies and will focus on studying the work of our district. I am sure Mr. Hull can balance both, but do believe the current student rep as well as students on most hiring commitees within schools (do they still do that?) covers the student voice which I do also agree is one to be heard.
To support Mr. Hull at this time is to not see the voice that needs to be heard which is that of parents within the district that desire better programs and services for their child. I wish him well in his future political pursuits.
I didn't realize only the people who paid taxes and had children were allowed vote and run for an elected position.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of items for discussion that require great maturity [many of which are behind closed doors to the public] that I do not feel comfortable putting into the hands of a recent graduate who may still have great contact with current high school students.
ReplyDeleteAt 18 you can fight and die for this country. If you are mature enough to do that, then I think you're mature enough to hold an elected office and be respectful of privacy laws.
ReplyDeleteBut yet not have alcohol.....maturity is not garenteed at 18. Lovely that he wants to serve his community. Perhaps one he is better suited for, equal to experience.
ReplyDelete** But yet not have alcohol **
ReplyDeleteAn ingenious point. That is pretty much the only freedom about which an 18-yr is not considered mature enough to make their own decisions. Why not stick to comparing the merits of the candidates rather than attacking one on a point that the law clearly settles?
Many of you seem to think a flip is switched at 21 giving them more maturity, intelligence and legitimacy than a younger perhaps more qualified contender. Lets please judge candidates on the merit of their ideas and the ways they can be of service to the community. Chandler Hull will bring necessary insight into the school board. Yes, he does not pay taxes, but he understands the schools better than any candidate could. We need a well rounded board for the betterment of the school, the community and the students, we already have several board members who pay taxes and don't understand the schools, lets even it out.
ReplyDeleteTo Whom it may concern,
ReplyDeleteu all seemed very concerned about hull. i am actually concerned about ann lane. Just becuase she wass the mayor of the cooking commitee she thinks that she is some sort of hotshot. She will not be receiving my vote, as i plan to just write in batman like i do in every election.
Please let's keep this blog a productive avenue for discussion. We all need to take our part in making our district a more positive environment. I invite you all to come to Candidates Night next Tuesday 2/15, 7:00pm at ORHS in the multipurpose room to hear from the candidates themselves, why they are running, and what their vision is for the district. Looking forward to seeing you all there!
ReplyDeleteTo Whom It May Concern, first try to stop writing in text speak. Second, Ann Lane was not mayor of a cooking committee???!! She was chair of the Moharimet PTO. Get your facts straight.
ReplyDeleteCan we PULEEZZZZ keep this positive.
All candidates have a right to run.
We don't even know what ANY of them stand for until we see them at candidates night.
All this stuff is just stuff, n i m srs hre, lol :)
Don't bother voting if you're going to vote for batman. Takes the brain of a newborn to figure that out..
ReplyDeleteAn earlier post above said that Chandler Hull was the Valedictorian for his senior class. Chandler Hull was an exemplary student with significant accomplishments. However, he was not the Valedictorian of his senior class. See http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100609/GJCOMMUNITY_01/706099992/-1/FOSCOMMUNITY04.
ReplyDeleteChandler was something like .002 points from being valedictorian. THat being said, once you meet him, Chandler is a very mature individual. It isn't easy winning the hearts of an entire class at ORHS. He not only did that, he easily crossed the divides that separate the students at the HS. From the jocks to the sci-fi nerds, he befriended everyone and the entire school, teachers and staff included, love him for who he is, not who he pretends to be. Gaining the respect of every faculty member from the AP teachers to the shop teacher is no easy feat. That is why he was given the Special Faculty Award by the ORHS faculty (please correct me if I am wrong)
ReplyDeleteYou go Chandler. You got my vote (and my parents' too).
Look at the candidates:
ReplyDeletemayor of the cookie bake off (or whatever was said)
Ms. Blabbermouth who posts to this blog every 10 minutes
Mr. Jim who hasn't met a cut in school programs he didn't like
No thanks.
I'll choose fresh faces who are NOT divisive:
business owner in Madbury and parent of an ORHS grad (Susan)
professor at UNH who is well educated and teaches (John)
mature young man with a calm demeanor and lots of ideas (Chandler).
I'll support the outsiders, not the same old staleness.
If you are really thinking of supporting John Collins for SB, then you ought to be aware of the following, as reported by the Nashua Telegraph (http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/business/898985-192/profs-defamation-suit-against-unh-tossed.html#):
ReplyDeleteJohn Collins, a tenured professor at the University of New Hampshire, filed a civil action against UNH after an incident on the campus that led to Collins’ arrest June 29, 2007, for disorderly conduct and stalking.
Collins was the chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the College of Life Science and Agriculture at UNH. Collins did not get along with another professor in that department, Stacia Sower, or her lab technician, Bernadine Schultz.
On the morning of June 28, 2007, Collins received a parking ticket for parking in the loading zone adjacent to Rudman Hall in excess of a 30-minute time limit. Suspecting Sower or Schultz of reporting the violation, he went to Sower’s office, but she was not there. Collins went to the elevator to go to his office and there were two individuals waiting to enter the elevator: Schultz and a graduate student. An exchange occurred between Collins and Schultz where Schultz, noticing Collins seemed upset, encouraged him to share his feelings and “let them out.” Collins responded in a tirade of epithets directly toward Sower including saying, “I could kill the (explicative)” loudly several times, and he kicked a large trash can in apparent anger.
After his outburst, Collins said sarcastically, “There, I feel much better.”
As a result of that outburst, Collins was arrested and removed from his position at UNH.
And This (http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090618/GJNEWS_01/706189782/-1/FOSNEWS)DURHAM — Police are disputing a University of New Hampshire professor's claims that he was sitting only a short distance away from his car when an officer arrested him Saturday morning for allegedly leaving his infant son unattended inside the vehicle.
ReplyDeletePolice say that a passerby on Main Street alerted them about the infant and say officers who entered the vehicle observed that the infant was suffering from heat-related signs of distress.
The father, John J. Collins, 55, of 59 Belle Lane in Lee, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child. He plans to plead not guilty.
A guy who bursts into an expletive-filled tirade at a co-worker and who doesn't know or care enough to take his baby with him when he parks his car? Thanks, but I'll take ANYONE else.
ReplyDeleteAcquitted in both cases which you could have found out with 30 secs more googling. Our community deserves better than these political gutter tactics.
ReplyDeleteWhen my husband, John Collins, decided to run for School Board, we were prepared to have his past “legal issues” resurface. We thought about it and decided that we should not let that stop him from striving to make a difference in our community. While it is true that John was arrested on two counts in June of 2007 for an incident at the university, it is also true that he was found “not guilty” on both counts. The judge even called the proceeding to a halt before all the defense witnesses had been heard, stating “I think I’ve heard enough.” The prosecution simply did not have a case. The above article states that he was removed from his position at UNH. That is not true. John remains an extremely well-liked professor at UNH.
ReplyDeleteThe details of this case are extremely complex with subtleties and nuances that I won’t bother to describe here (unless the anonymous posters continue their attacks and I feel the need to). Suffice it to say, that the other professor involved has a long history of harassing and threatening faculty. John’s behavior in this incident was in response to many years of torment to himself, his friends, and his colleagues by this woman. He had simply had enough. That doesn’t condone the outburst, but it does help explain it. As evidence to this, over 40 of his colleagues signed a letter to the Provost urging him to halt the university’s actions against John. More than two dozen fellow faculty came to the court hearings on his behalf. The message from the faculty of COLSA was that John was not the one to be feared. Again, he was found “not guilty” and as I understand the law, that is as good as never having been arrested.
Please see below for my comments on the second issue.
It is true that John was arrested for an incident involving our son in June of 2009. It is also true that he was found “not guilty” here as well. After going through this ordeal, I realized that I can never again believe anything that I read in the papers. The details of this incident were incredibly distorted. John did not put our son in danger. Our son did not suffer any heat related distress. Our son was not left unattended. What DID happen was that John sat at an outside table at Breaking New Grounds in Durham drinking coffee while our son napped in the car IN FULL VIEW of John. A bystander noticed our son in the car sleeping and called the police. When the police officer arrived, John ran over to ask what was wrong. The well-intentioned officer asked him to open the car door. She removed our son from the car. Our son was understandably upset at being awakened from his nap by a complete stranger and started crying. He did not show signs of heat related distress. He was not lethargic. Instead he so violently protested to being held by a complete stranger that the police officer was forced to return him to John. When he calmed down, he was taken from John again to be evaluated by the EMS team, at which point he started hysterically crying again. They took his temperature several times and it was normal. He was not at all dehydrated. He was a young child in clear distress from being taken away from his father. Although they found no evidence of heat related distress that could not be explained by his crying (an elevated respiration rate), he was taken away from John and brought to the emergency room. John was not allowed to go with him. When he got there, the doctor found no evidence of heat related distress. He did not have a temperature and he was not dehydrated, despite having cried most of the 20 minute ride to the hospital.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not criticize the people involved in this case, they were trying to do the right thing, I am certain that my son was not suffering from any distress until the police officer opened the car door. While I may not have made the same choice, John did not put our son in danger. He was watching him the entire time.
I’m sure this comment will evoke criticism. But I do not believe that people who are found “not guilty” should feel the need to hide or hang their heads in shame. John has his faults, like anyone, but he is an excellent father and he was an excellent, well-respected School Board member. We were prepared to address these concerns when he decided to run because we believe he can make a difference. Thanks for reading and sorry it is so long!
For those concerned with the real issues in this election, take a look at John’s website: www.johncollinsforschoolboard.com.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the explanation. despite the mean diatribes, I remember the good work John did when he was on the board in years past.
I plan to vote for him. I am not going to cast my vote to any of the "gang" who purport to support the schools but instead seem to divide the community.
Thanks again!