Pro Bono Publico: Hancock Alliance for Good Government holds Waveland Election Forum

And the new council chambers on Coleman Avenue was standing room only which is a good thing:

The feistiest exchanges happened with the 3 candidates for School Board Trustee:

Circuit Court Judicial Candidate Chris Schmidt gave a quick PSA telling those assembled that because the Judicial races are state elections, Waveland voters may have to vote at two different polling places to vote in the Municipal and State Judicial elections:

The candidate forum concluded with the Mayoral election candidates. Outgoing Mayor David Garcia was favorably mentioned by virtually all the candidates. Mayor Garcia leaves office with a huge amount of public goodwill for bringing the City back from the brink of bankruptcy:

4 thoughts on “Pro Bono Publico: Hancock Alliance for Good Government holds Waveland Election Forum”

  1. Thanks for the coverage, Doug. I have been so gratified by the positive response I have received from the public and the candidates on the Forum. Once again, the Hancock County Alliance for Good Government successfully provided a public service to the voters and candidates giving both an opportunity to gather for an exchange of ideas. This is one day they didn’t have to knock doors because they had a crowd ready to listen to them all at once.
    Remember our mission statement:
    Excellence in Education–Openness in Governing—Integrity in Spending
    Waveland had a great turn out at the polls 4 years ago, and we encourage everyone to match it or surpass it this time.
    GET OUT AND VOTE
    Thanks again,
    Lana Noonan, Chairman
    Hancock County Alliance for Good Government

  3. The election for School Board has reached an all time low, unfortunately. It was my opinion a good thing that our Legislature took the proceedings for School Board election away from the School District officials and gave the responsibility to the Circuit Clerk’s office. But today even that has become a disappointment.
    All of the candidates for school board trustee were notified yesterday by the Circuit Clerk that it has come to her attention that they have to have a high school diploma or the equivalent to qualify to run.
    Now, she knew she was in charge of this election since the Legislature ended their 2013 session last April, and when the new law was passed and went into effect on July 1, 2014. Now 40 days after the deadline to qualify she calls the candidates to tell them this. But, wait, this is not new. The high school diploma requirement passed into law on July 1 of 2002 according to the Legislative website.
    Are you confused yet, because the candidates are. As luck would have it, they all lost these personal records in Katrina. Mike Bell is the only one who could produce any kind of diploma. His high school diploma was lost in the storm, but he managed to find his diploma from Indiana U. in the rubble, so he brought that to the Clerk’s office. She actually called the Secretary of State to see if that would suffice. No, I am not kidding. Naturally they said yes since we all know you had to achieve some kind of diploma to get into a university.
    But, wait a minute, Mrs. Lawler, the incumbent, was elected by default in 2010 (no one ran against her).
    She lost her diploma 5 years earlier in Katrina, but has been allowed to serve a 5 year term with no proof of high school graduation.
    So, where are we? When I spoke to Mrs. Ruhr, the Circuit Clerk today, I asked her how all of this came up so late in the election cycle. She said she had to look into it because she had received so many phone calls. From whom? We both agreed it was politics. But, that is not the story she told Mike Bell. According to him she said that she was just bringing herself up to speed on the new law, or something to that effect, but with only 20 days to go before the election. She’s had all summer to bring herself up to date.
    This whole mess could have been avoided if ALL of the parties responsible in any way to the voters in Waveland would have issued a joint statement in the newspaper last July outlining the changes in the election process for School Board Trustees.
    And those folks would be obviously our two illustrious legislators Phillip Moran and David Baria to start with. Then we can move on to the top public official in Waveland, the Mayor, and last but not least, the Circuit Clerk. Then EVERYONE in Waveland would have known what was required of them if they wanted to run for school board, and would have known it well in advance of the Nov. 4 election. I have heard from more than one of them that this was not their “responsibility.” Well, I have done a lot things in my life that were not my “responsibility” but felt like they needed to be done. And let’s not forget this was a change in the proceedings for this election–THE PUBLIC SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED OF THE CHANGES.
    Believe this, come next November, 2016, the Hancock County Alliance for Good Government will publicize the election requirements for the next trustee to represent Waveland so that all who are interested will understand what is required of them, whether it is our “responsibility” or not.
    We learned one thing this year–Don’t rely on your “Paid Representatives” they may not consider it their “responsibility.”
    The last I heard this afternoon, the Secretary of State’s Office has cleared the way for all names to remain on the Ballot, but stay tuned because you are still in Hancock County!!!!
    And, by the way, if it is just “politics” then let the accusers,who are claiming that some of the candidates lack this requirement, produce the proof themselves. If they are making the allegation, the burden of proof is on them in my opinion.

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