As a taxpayer and parent and husband of school board candidate Veronica Mehno I feel compelled to respond to the attacks on her character by the members of the entrenched power structure in West Windsor who want to keep the status quo on the school board.
The choices for this election could not be more clear. If you want school board members who are unwilling to question the administration and its policies you can vote for Dana Krug and Martin Whitfield. If you want a school board member who will fight like hell for the parents and taxpayers to ensure that our taxpayer dollars are faithfully spent so that all students get the quality education they deserve you should vote for Veronica Mehno and Helen Ming.
Veronica is a fighter who is willing to stick her neck out to ask the uncomfortable questions that others often shy away from so that all of the factors that may be motivating the school board and administration to make their policy decisions can be fully explored in the marketplace of ideas.
Having been raised under a dictatorship in Argentina and emigrated to the greatest democracy on Earth she became a U.S. citizen and now proudly exercises our long democratic tradition of speaking truth to power. At least with Veronica, you may not always agree with her but you will know where she stands.
Now with respect to those attacking Veronica by implying that she is a bigot please take the beam out of your eye before you try to remove the speck from the eyes of your brothers and sisters.
In 2013 the only members of the school board who opposed having Diwali and Chinese New Year as school holidays were Dana Krug and — Kaish and Catherine Foley stated on the record at the school board meeting approving these holidays that she was opposed to granting these holidays to the Indian and Chinese families that together now comprise the majority of families in our school district.
Moreover, during the course of past few years, School Board President Tony Fleres has consistently castigated her and others in a patronizing and condescending manner whenever she has exercised her democratic right to question and/ or dissent from school policies and proposals she finds objectionable.
He even went so far as to question her use of English, which is her second language. In response I wrote a letter to Mr. Fleres detailing his transgressions and asking him to treat her and all members of the community with the dignity and respect that they deserve.
Regardless of the outcome of this election I hope that in the future we can all speak with candor while retaining our dignity and respect for each other.
— Chris Mehno, West Windsor
