Submitted by Scot Youngblood
An article in the San Diego Union Tribune on Sunday, September 25, 2022 entitled “The Conservative Parents Seeking Power on Local School Boards” presented an exceptionally biased view of parents running for school boards, to include myself. The article implies that conservative political action committees, organizations, and parties have recruited, trained, and financed conservative candidates. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Unfortunately, this has been picked up by local social media incendiaries to smear me and others with epithets and vile hateful language in an overt attempt to divide our community. This was likely responsible for someone leaving human excrement and adult male underwear by a campaign yard sign in my front yard 72 hours after the Union Tribune article. Never happened before. Civility indeed.
So, let me state for the record:
Recruitment: No political party, organization, or political action committee recruited me, other than individual citizens in Coronado who encouraged me to run for office. I waited until June 2022 to file because I did not see enough like-minded candidates running to fix the problems in our public schools. It was a difficult and reluctant decision for myself and my family.
Financing: I have not sought nor received any political party or political action committee money to finance my campaign. I have received over $8500 in contributions, solely from individual concerned citizens in Coronado and personal friends. Even School Board campaigns cost money. All the fliers, door hangers, yard signs and even the website were designed by yours truly on nights and weekends.
Endorsements: I have received an endorsement from the San Diego Republican Party. I have never been active with or held any office with the Republican Party. I hope that everyone who sees this endorsement, goes to my website, and reviews the extensive information posted there, and votes accordingly. In Coronado, almost every City Council member, Mayor, and School Board Trustee elected in recent memory has received their party’s endorsement during their first several elections. In 2020 when Casey Tanaka was on the Democratic Party’s Voter Guide for City Council and we had his campaign sign in our front yard, I do not remember this being an issue. It seems the accusations of extremism are a one-way street.
At least one current CUSD School Board candidate has received significant funds from a Sacramento based partisan political action committee. One candidate served as a Board member on the Coronado Democrat Club, as well as the head of their legislative committee. Just because this candidate stepped down from these positions on the eve of an election, doesn’t make them any less partisan. Having said the above, I am fine with partisan activities and contributions. I think it just needs to be disclosed to the voters for full transparency. I will work professionally with anyone. Finally, parents who desire to improve their local schools and provide a high quality education to all Coronado students are not extremists or racists. Vandalism to people’s homes, implied threats, and baseless outrageous accusations are clearly meant to intimidate and distract from the real issues faced by our schools.
Scot Youngblood
