[Magdalen] Local election

[Grace Cangialosi]

Yesterday my daughter Michelle was elected to our county Board of Supervisors, ousting her district's incumbent. We thought she would probably win, though the margin was smaller than expected. Her opponent, though a very nice man, was definitely part of the "old boy/girl network that was desperately trying to win as many positions as possible in this election. They lost all of them except that of sheriff, which was particularly unfortunate; he needed to go, as well.
The campaign got really nasty, with lies and rumors spread, threatening letters and phone calls made, and even shots fired into the business of a campaign manager working against the incumbent sheriff.

My daughter got together early on with a number of candidates, and they all agreed not to engage in any kind of name-calling or dirty tricks, but to focus on addressing the issues. Even her opponent was part of that agreement. 
In the end, none of the nasties were elected, with the possible exception of the sheriff, who may or may not have been behind some of the attacks. And Michelle and the others received high praise last night for the kind of campaign they had run.

There's a delicious irony in this for me. Over thirty years ago, when I was living here, I had been publicly attacked by the chairman of the Board of Supervisors for speaking out in favor of our teachers. It was vicious, and he was soundly booed when he finished, but it was very hard to stand there and take it.
I could not have imagined then that a) my daughter and I would be living here again or b) she would sit on that same Board of Supervisors!
Life is strange sometimes...