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When we spoke at the carnival yesterday and you mentioned you'd written something controversial about my words at the last BOE meeting, you had me wondering what it could be. When it turned out you wrote that some people thought I was trying to move Christine Iacobucci's (my wife) agenda forward, it made me smile. Christine is a very independent person, as you and anyone who knows her knows, and she doesn't share much with me about her work on the BOE (she goes into her office and closes the door when speaking on the phone about Board business). But I know what her agenda is, and I'm proud to try to move it forward.
Christine has no personal aspirations. She's not trying to improve her corporate resume. She wants Lansing to have the best schools it can afford, without driving our retired friends and friends with limited incomes out of the community. And she has a deep feeling for all her constituencies. She cares about the teachers, the bus drivers, the cafeteria workers, the nurses, the secretarial staff, maintenance workers, administrators, farmers, business executives, retired people, professors, newspaper editors, and all the elements that make up our diverse community. She cares a great deal about social issues as well, and has been a champion of minority groups and religions, and people of all different beliefs. She's worked hard for people with disabilities.I watch all this from a distance. I'm not an "insider." But I see things, and what I see is definitely not a picture of harmony among the elements of the school and the community, but increasing disharmony and lowering morale. And I don't see many of the other board members reaching out to pull these people together, but rather circling the wagons around management. Not Christine. She works for everyone. I can't tell you how many times I've overheard people stop her on the street (or at the carnival yesterday, in fact) and say "Thank you for your words -- you said exactly what I think!" I'm proud to support her agenda, and I hope that the many, many others in the community who agree with me will also stand by her side. Keep up the great work. We love the Star. Joe Woelfel ----
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