our view

“Not him again …”

That comment on Facebook, accompanied by an emoji face that seemed to simultaneously express doom and fatigue, was posted by a reader to the Rogue Valley Times story on the race for Position 7 on the Medford School Board.

That schools contest, one of four in Medford to be decided in the May 16 special election, pits incumbent Lilia Caballero against challenger Curt Ankerberg, who is running for elective office for the 16th time — and has earned a reputation for his combative, at times vulgar, campaign style during his previous 15 defeats.

After our story on the Position 7 race appeared, Ankerberg lamented that there are “no real honest journalists left in Southern Oregon” and that our editor’s “head is up the good old boys’ asses.”

We empathize with the emoji.

As the Times rolled out stories this past week for the Caballero-Ankerberg race and the other contests and ballot measures on the ballot, you might have noticed something that wasn’t there.

Endorsements.

We’re not doing them for the special election — not because we don’t think they merit our taking a stance; but because, as a still-young news operation, our infrastructure hasn’t reached the construction phase where we could give candidates and races the attention necessary before offering our opinion.

So, we won’t be trying to tell you how to cast your ballot.

However …

While we won’t say who to vote for, that isn’t going to prevent us from saying who doesn’t deserve your vote.

Consider this comment from a current Medford School Board candidate, taken from the transcript of a board meeting of a year ago:

“Hello again, corrupt and tyrannical Medford School Board members. … You’re pathetic and worthless and every single one of you needs to step down in disgrace.”

No … that wasn’t Mr. Ankerberg speaking. Those comments directed at the board came from Taryne Saunders, who is running for Position 5 against incumbent Tod Hunt and another challenger, Michelle Atkinson.

Saunders has established a reputation of her own at Medford School Board meetings, eventually receiving a letter from district officials about her behavior that cited intimidation tactics and inappropriate language (think F-bombs with children present).

In the Times story on her candidacy, Saunders said “I stand by my actions, the way I represented myself. … I am not ashamed.”

She might not be — but Rogue Valley voters should be.

We would like to think, to believe, to hope that the vitriol, the name-calling and the corrosive nature of our national political scene would not find its way into our local elections; that candidates could discuss issues without denigrating others; and that voters, at least here, still can fill out their ballots with one hand without holding their noses with the other.

Remember, as we said, we’re not going to tell you who to vote for.