Majority rules – or does it?

Whether you favor the building of a second high school in Moses Lake, or whether you don’t, you should take a hard look at what has happened to our election process with this new school board.

Over the years, I have worked on many levies and voted in all of those levies. Win or lose, disappointment or victory, I have always seen the school boards support whatever the decision of the registered voters who exercised their right to vote decided. That is the way it is supposed to work. Right?

So what is happening now? Last year, we had another levy to see if the voters would agree with the need for a second high school. After a recount, it was certified that the levy passed. It passed by more than 60 percent (a super majority) of the registered voters in the district who exercised their right to vote.

There are many more registered voters in the district. That is true. However elections or levies are won or lost by voter turnout. 5,700 or so registered voters took the time and used a stamp to decide that it was time for a second high school in Moses Lake. Those who did not choose to vote gave their tacit consent by not taking an active part in the election, thus allowing others to make the decision for them. Decisions are made by those who show up. That is the way it is designed to work, whether in a national election or a local levy. Who knows, maybe if more people had voted, we might have a different school board all together. Did any of you win by a super majority?

This school board’s job now is to put into motion the procedures to have the new school built. Nothing else. Their job is not to take the money voted on and targeted for the new school and do whatever else they please with it. The signs I saw around town and read about in the paper specified a new high school would be built. That is what I voted for.

If the money designated for the high school is not used to build the new school, I, for one, will think very carefully before I ever vote in favor of a levy again. Can this school board be trusted with our money or our confidence?

Ella M. West

Moses Lake