Letters: Your vote determines the referees; Homework for school board candidates

Your vote determines the referees

Why should you care who wins the statewide judicial elections?

Because judges are the referees.

Who decides if Sen. Jake Corman gets your personal information for his unnecessary audit of the 2020 election? You can lobby him against his fraudit all you want, but what teeth are in your phone calls? He’s already decided to go down that path.

The only way to stop him is through the lawsuit currently before Commonwealth Court. Commonwealth Court has jurisdiction over election law cases.

What happens if Corman wins there? The Attorney General brought the lawsuit to stop him, so he will appeal it to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for the final referee’s verdict.

Here’s how that pattern has worked recently.

Donald Trump brought 63 lawsuits to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He won exactly two of them, both in Commonwealth Court. Both were overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Why does it work that way? Commonwealth Court has nine judges, seven of whom are Republican. Pennsylvania Supreme Court has seven justices, five of whom are Democrats. Judges aren’t supposed to be political, but judges are human, and like the rest of us, they take their values with them. If the Trump years have taught us nothing else, it’s that Democrats and Republicans tend to think differently.

Your vote determines who the referees are. If you want your rights protected, please vote for all four who are identified as Democrats on your ballot: McLaughlin, Lane, Dumas, and Spurgeon.

A task for school board members

Rather than endorse any candidates for school board, I’d like to offer a suggestion for all school board members going forward. I’m doing this because of what I’ve read about recent school board meetings in Bald Eagle, Bellefonte and Penns Valley. Many of the speakers at those meetings have identified themselves as graduates of the respective schools.

My suggestion is simple: At the start of the new year, in collaboration with faculty, please double down on the teaching of critical thinking and empathy.

It seems to me that both have been lacking lately. Let’s do better for the next generation.

Thompson has right experience for supervisor

Jeremie Thompson will be an excellent Ferguson Township supervisor. He will do a great job because he cares about the township, has a positive attitude, and is willing to put in the work needed to understand the issues, constituent concerns and make good decisions.

Jeremie attended numerous township supervisor and planning board meetings as a citizen since he moved to the township. He was appointed to the Planning Commission about three years ago and represented Ferguson Township on the Regional Planning Board for a year and a half. He was appointed chair of the Planning Board in early 2020 in recognition of his leadership. In my opinion he has put in more volunteer time than just about any township citizen.

Jeremie works for PSU Human Resources and is my colleague. He is professional, congenial, and effectively assists his clients to hire staff. He listens, discerns what the issue is, and then works to reach optimal solutions. He is especially adept at leveraging technology to improve work processes.

Jeremie is a genuinely considerate person, who is very loyal to Ferguson Township. He is very personable and strives to understand perspectives that may differ from his own. He respects different approaches to problem solving and is willing to explore new ideas. He will bring traditional rural values, a strong work ethic and an untiring interest in Ferguson Township and its residents to the board of supervisors.

Jeremie Thompson has my unqualified support for the Ferguson Township Board of Supervisors.