Lake Oswego Dem farm team practicing dirty tricks

by NW Spotlight

This is Part 2 of 2 on the story that KATU ran on Monday about “security concerns” at Lake Oswego Junior High School (LOJHS). The story started because a “concerned KATU viewer”, a “parent”, complained to KATU that she didn’t think that LOJHS was taking safety seriously.

Who is this concerned viewer, this parent? She is Marti Long. According to the email sent out by the Lake Oswego School District, Marti Long is not a LOJHS parent, or even a Lake Oswego School District parent. Marti is associated with the group Lake Oswego United for Schools. She has written on the Lake Oswego United for Schools web site, and Marti was setting up for a candidate forum sponsored by LO United for Schools in early April when “she wandered the halls and became alarmed when no one stopped her” at LOJHS.

LO United for Schools is interested in the upcoming election on May 21, 2013. Two Lake Oswego School Board positions have competitors. Kevin Robertson is running for Position 2 against Sarah Howell, and School Board Chair John R. Wendland is being challenged in Position 3 by Karen Delaney. Kevin Robertson is endorsed by Chair John Wendland. Robertson and Wendland are receiving bipartisan support and endorsements.

Marti Long has openly endorsed Karen Delaney against incumbent Chair John Wendland, and Lake Oswego United for Schools has endorsed Sarah Howell against Kevin Robertson and Karen Delaney against incumbent Chair John Wendland.

So the “concerned viewer” and “parent”, Marti Long, who instigated the KATU investigation into “security concerns” at Lake Oswego Junior High School, had a vested interest in making the current Lake Oswego School Board Chair look bad. And the timing of the KATU story is just before the election. The KATU story could actually make the LOJHS less safe by portraying it as having lax security. Was Marti Long willing to jeopardize students at a junior high school just to try to besmirch the image of individuals she views as political rivals?

Some over-zealous Dems

Unlike the bipartisan support that Kevin Robertson has (including the endorsement of Democratic former state Rep. Greg Macpherson), Sarah Howell is a hyper-partisan Democrat who even touts her endorsement by the Clackamas County Democrats. Sarah Howell is endorsed by Democratic state Rep. Chris Garrett and Democratic state Rep. Sara Gelser – who is no friend to Oregon schools. Sarah Howell is the type of hyper-partisan Democrat who had no problem working for now disgraced Democratic U.S. Rep. David Wu for three years as his scheduler. Imagine what you’d have to overlook to be in that position.

Sarah Howell has a degree in broadcast and journalism from the University of Oregon.

Based on her past political experience working for David Wu and based on her hyper-partisan Dem endorsements, it looks like Sarah Howell is an up-and-comer in the hyper-partisan Dem farm team. A hyper-partisan farm team that appears to be willing to exploit the media to gain political advantage, regardless of the cost. There are reasonable Democrats just as there are reasonable Republicans. The Lake Oswego School Board would be better served by people who are not engaged in hyper-partisan politics, regardless of party, and by people who don’t stoop to dirty political tricks.