Stillwater: No Answer From Thole

Well--more than a week has gone by, and still no answer from School Board Chair George Thole to the question I asked him about School Board Member Choc Junker.

Here is the question I sent to both of his public email addresses:

Dear Mr. Thole:

It's Bill Prendergast--I've got a question for you about Choc Junker. I just got off the phone with Micki Adams and she told me she already forwarded a copy of the question to you, but I'm sending you copies of the same question to both your email addresses in the hope that you can give me an answer prior to the election. (I've already sent this question to the Gazette and the Courier as letters to the editor.)
Here goes:
Mr. Thole--I ask you the following question so that I and other concerned citizens can decide what credence they should give to retirement rumors that have been circulating about the School Board recently. On a scale of one to ten, with “ten” representing “fully functional” and “one” representing “severely impaired,” how would you rate the current mental capabilities—including the ability to concentrate on and understand issues before the School Board—of current School Board member “Choc” Junker?

Please be sure to answer the question with a number—1 to 10. If you fail to do so, I must take it that you are evading the question and would rather not answer it.

I hope you will reply to this email address (here I gave him my email address) at your earliest convenience. I will receive your reply as soon aes you send it, since I can check my email on the web while I am travelling.

Good luck to you in the upcoming election, and may the best candidates win.
Sincerely,
William Prendergast
Written in San Francisco, Friday, November 04, 2005 3:14 pm Pacific Time.

Note the date on the above. It's been more than a week since I sent it to Mr. Thole, and no answer.

UH-OH!

I also sent copies of that question to Thole publicly, in the form of letters to our two local newspapers, the Gazette and the Courier. They wouldn't print the question as letters to the editor.

UH-OH!

I spoke to the editor of the Gazette and she made a good case for not printing the question prior to the election. She explained that Thole, as candidate, wouldn't have time to print a reply before the election date, so if the Gazette ran my letter it would come off as a sort of "ambush." I think that's a pretty good rationale for not printing the question just prior to the election.

But now the election is over, and Thole knows that the only possible way to make this question go away is to answer it for the record with at least one word: "Ten."

So far he hasn't. Nothing, not even a "no comment." No answer at all, publicly or privately. It's not as though Thole and I are strangers. We've met and spoken to each other, and he's taken regular notice of me in his column. Why the "news blackout" on this particular subject?

UH-OH!

I think I'd better send another copy of the question around again. Here is what I will send around today, via email:

November 15, 2005

Dear Mr. Thole:

I ask you the following question so that I and other concerned citizens can decide what credence they should give to retirement rumors that have been circulating about the School Board recently. On a scale of one to ten, with “ten” representing “fully functional” and “one” representing “severely impaired,” how would you rate the current mental capabilities—including the ability to concentrate on and understand issues before the School Board—of current School Board member “Choc” Junker?

Please be sure to answer the question with a number— 1 to 10. If you fail to do so, I must take it that you are evading the question and would rather not answer it.

Sincerely,

Bill Prendergast