From Steven Greenhut:

I have to agree with this post on Orange Juice! that the selection of anti-immigration activist and former police officer Harald Martin to replace Denise Mansfield-Reinking as a trustee on the Anaheim Union High School District is insanity. Denise was a wonderful person who cared deeply about the kids as she tried to protect taxpayer abuses. Martin is an anti-immigration ideologue who wants many kids deported.

As the Times explained, “Anaheim schools trustees appointed to their board Thursday a polarizing figure whom voters tossed off the school board in 2002 after, among other things, he proposed billing Mexico for educating illegal immigrants. … Martin is also known for a failed proposal to turn new students over to federal authorities if they could not prove they were in the country legally. He ran for the school board in November and came in seventh out of eight candidates.”

Conservative Republican former school board member Alexandria Coronado called Martin “the biggest racist I have ever met in my life.” One of his supporters, Trustee Thomas Holguin told the Times: “He openly and sincerely shared with us that he realized how wrong he was in taking those approaches, and how he had learned his lessons not to go there no longer.”

Holguin said he believes in giving people a chance to redeem themselves.

Yeah, but why should Martin be given that chance as a public official who makes policy for school kids? Aren’t there any other possible choices for the board? Certainly, there are, but the current board is acting foolishly. 

This entry was posted on Monday, July 23rd, 2007 at 1:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.