The Auburn school district just sent out its budget/school board candidates mailer for the May 15 election. I get a call inquiring why Jerry Morgan's name and picture isn't included, so I begin my next column here.

According to the mailer, Jerry Morgan never submitted a picture and biography of himself to the school district at the time of printing. Instead of listing him as a school board candidate who did not submit, they just left him out altogether. Sound strange? Well it is.

How in the world can they justify leaving out a legitimate candidate on their official mailing? These political games are unbelievable. Why wouldn't they just list his name and say photo and biography not available?

So that brings us to whom we should vote for to serve on school board.

For those of you who are planning on “bullet” voting (which means you only plan to vote for one person), my choice would be Morgan for many reasons. Morgan is truly a citizens' watchdog who understands budget figures and takes the time to learn about things he doesn't understand. He really does care about the education our children are getting or not getting. He has had firsthand experience after serving on the Auburn school board once before. This means he understands how to work through the political maneuvering and red tape that frequently gets in the way of getting things done for the taxpayers.

Morgan has shown nothing but dedication and isn't afraid to ask hard questions. He sees the wasteful spending taking place, like replacing two sheds that are 10x10 at a whopping $68,000 each. Why weren't they properly maintained in the first place? There are trees growing up through the vents on one of them.

The bleachers at the high school are being replaced (the old ones work just fine) for more than $300,000.

And then there is turf. Morgan understands that we, the voters, already said “no” to turf and plans to back us up.

See, Mr. Morgan knows that all this frivolous spending takes away from our children's education and that's the real job of the school board - safeguarding our children's education.

Instead, they have put their hands into everything BUT educating our children. Jerry said, “If your door falls off a hinge you don't buy a new door, you just fix it.” Morgan is an ideal school board candidate who vows to watch out for us taxpayers and still offer our children the best education anyone can ever give.

Ducayne's column appears

Tuesdays in The Citizen, and she can be reached at

sacredheart6005@hotmail.com