A trend has developed over the course of this last school board election that should give all of us pause. I'm concerned that Mr. Schor, for whatever personal reasons, has found it necessary to continue his verbal stalking of Rick Smith even after the election. Give it a rest, Mr. Schor. It's over and your tirades are wearing a bit thin. But it has become clear that Mr. Schor is incapable of relinquishing his position in the gutter and so his venomous letters continue unabated. I think I speak for many when I say the time has come for this community to put differences aside and move forward to build a better school system. The election is over and both the Coalition and FOSS have won. Indeed, the people have spoken and they have seen fit to split their vote. Each side had both a winning and losing candidate.

That Rick Smith along with Kurt Schmeller presented a strong contrasting point of view from the other candidates is not only healthy but is an example of democracy at work, despite Mr. Schor's opinions to the contrary. On the other hand, it seems clear that Mr. Schor would like nothing better than to silence all opposition. This should begin to frighten any thoughtful person. I could easily dismiss Mr. Schor's adolescent letters because in a grown man his prattle is more pitiable than detestable. But I suspect there's something far more fascistic lurking in Mr. Schor's rantings, and that alarms me. Perhaps he would be happy if only candidates who agreed with him ran for office. Perhaps he would like to make it impossible for opposing points of views to be heard. Perhaps he'd like to be the sole arbiter of who should and shouldn't run for any office. Perhaps he believes the First Amendment should be enjoyed by only a select few which, of course, wouldn't include anyone who opposed him.

Someone ought to tell him that campaigns and elections are nothing if not a manifestation of one's right of free speech. Now Mr. Schor is on the record as saying he'll watch Kurt Schmeller carefully to make certain he doesn't follow Rick Smith's blueprint. I hasten to add, that Mr. Schor was not elected to anything and therefore has no right to impose his agenda on Kurt Schmeller or anyone else. To even suggest such a thing is arrogance in the extreme. In short, Bruce Schor who ran for nothing, was elected to nothing and is accountable to no one now wants to dictate policy. I respectfully suggest Mr. Schor stock up on some digitalis; he's going to need it.

Another thing, Mr. Schor has shown himself to be a poor loser and as is so often the case with elitists like him, his insulting rhetoric reveals more troubling aspects about his own character than it does about that of the much-maligned Rick Smith. If he thinks it's wise to make this his life's work and attempts to silence the opposition in the future by using your paper as a shill, I suggest he think twice because I suspect that Rick Smith's respectable showing in the polls was due, at least in part, to Mr. Schor and his over-the-top polemics. Poetic justice in spades, I'd say. If I were Rick Smith, I would pray that Mr. Schor stick around for another round.

One last point. While Mr. Schor cannot seem to satisfy his enormous appetite for vindictiveness and the "politics of personal destruction" possibly because of some genetic flaw, I wonder what could have induced you, madame editor, to print his letter especially after the bell sounded? It served no purpose other than to signal to Mr. Schor that his gutter sniping would continue to be welcome in your paper, a most unfortunate judgment on your part given the fact that your competitor has taken the moral high ground while you persist in wallowing in the slop that Mr. Schor serves up in lieu of a conscience.

You, madame editor, have a responsibility to this community and, need I say, to journalism. You do this community a great disservice when you underestimate our ability to figure out what's going on and by so doing you marginalize yourself along with your paper.

I challenge you to include this on the next Letters to the Editor page, just as it appears at this writing. Unless, of course, it's only Mr. Schor who can speak on this topic.

K. Lappano