In his recent op-ed, “Why did outsiders spend $123K to buy the Carlsbad school board,” Scott Davison claims everyone detests special interests. I agree that oil companies and data centers are unpopular. But he loses me when he lumps our teachers, custodians, librarians and hardworking tradespeople in with “corrupt fat cats.”
I’ve never met a teacher with a private jet or a Ferrari, so his suggestion that unions are reaping personal profits on the scale of Jeff Bezos shows just how out of touch he is with our community.
Davison says “outsiders” are buying the Carlsbad school board for Michele Ward, Tracey Perrault and me. The same claim has appeared in text messages targeting my campaign, which conveniently don’t include the required “paid for by” disclosure.
Rather than hide behind a text blast, I’ve chosen to talk to the community directly.
Voters decide elections, so I’ve spent the last several months walking the neighborhoods I’m running to represent. Along the way, I’ve spoken with firefighters, local nurses and police officers who keep our schools and communities safe, all of them represented by unions.
And yes, teachers and tradespeople, too. Unions and their members are vital parts of our community, not villains to be demonized.
I’m proud to have their support.
A union is not a distant corporation. It is a group of employees, including many of our neighbors, who pool their dues to advocate for fair wages and improved working conditions. When the air conditioning shut down at Carlsbad High School, the teachers’ union advocated for safe learning conditions for teachers and students, and a classified employee, represented by LiUNA, fixed it.
Union members work side by side with the people they serve and engage in the practices that keep democracy alive: advocacy and representation. When the Carlsbad Unified Teachers Association or LiUNA votes to support a candidate, Carlsbad teachers and district employees engage in the democratic process.
Davison also inaccurately implies that the only support for Michele Ward, Tracey Perrault and me comes from this supposed “special interest.” But the county’s public campaign filing database clearly disproves his point. Our filings reveal broad support from friends, family, former classmates, co-workers and many of our Carlsbad neighbors.
This brings me to transparency. I’m proud of my endorsements, and you can find them all listed on my website and in my social media feed. Every ad supporting my candidacy has carried a clear “paid for by” disclosure. The campaign finance disclosures that Davison misrepresents show that nothing is being hidden and everything is being properly disclosed.
My opponent cannot say the same. His two endorsements, from the Republican Party and Carl DeMaio, are difficult to find because he doesn’t list them on social media or his own website. As mentioned previously, Area 5 voters have received multiple mass texts supporting his candidacy or decrying “special interest,” or both, with no indication of who is paying for them.
California campaign rules generally require a “paid for by” or “with” disclosure on mass political text messages. If Davison cares about transparency, he should ask who is behind those texts.
On Nov. 3, voters can choose candidates who are upfront and honest about their campaign support instead of ones who seem embarrassed by their own endorsements.
Chris Waidelich is running for Area 5 trustee on the Carlsbad Unified School District board.
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