3 Years Later...Who Will The Star Endorse This Time?

Time travel back, if you will, just about 3 years ago to March 24, 2007

The STAR Editorial for this date read:

Jim McCourt
"Jim McCourt’s background as a small business owner as well as his attendance at Sun Prairie School Board meetings -- and his statements about bringing decorum back to the board -- will be welcome at the board table."
-Sun Prairie STAR Editorial 3-24-07 [emphasis added]

[cough... cough] Attendance at school board meetings? Editor Chris Mertes gets many things right. But Mertes didn't just miss the boat on this one. He missed the whole pier! Not only did McCourt only show for a handful of board meetings 3 years ago, but in 2009 his attendance record was 75%. So far in 2010, it's 60%. He's already missed the two biggest meetings of this year. As for decorum? Decorum can be over-rated. Give us a passionate discussion representing both sides of an issue any day over blind allegiance to whatever Culver wants.

McCourt was --IS -- chair of the Community Engagement Task Force, which hasn't met in nearly 2 years and hasn't adopted a single committee recommendation. One could argue that the valuable time of 21 committee members was simply wasted. McCourt was also hot to revise the entire board committee structure over a year ago. It appears that McCourt is a "Planner", not a "Do-er".

Caren Diedrich
"Caren Diedrich is a refreshing presence on the board. At times painstakingly honest and a little avant garde with her comments, Diedrich is an experienced treasurer on the board whose working knowledge will be missed if she is voted off the board. We believe she should be reelected. "
-Sun Prairie STAR Editorial 3-24-07 [emphasis added]

We get the "painstakingly honest"...and possibly even the "avant garde" comment. We suspect even her fellow board members might choose a couple of different words, however. As for Diedrich being a "refreshing presence"...WTF? Let's call a spade a shovel, why don't we? More often than not, her comments would officially be termed "OUT THERE", as in WAAAAAY Out There. If decorum means being disingenuous when desperate to say something nice about someone, then we're not a card carrying member of Decorum United Local 5150. As our mothers used to say..."If you can't find something nice to say about someone...then say nothing". What they never told us was the second part... "Don't stretch the truth completely out of shape just to say something nice about someone either!".

Here's looking forward to the STAR endorsements for school board. Let's keep it real this time, Chris.