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                     NOVEMBER 2006                      

Many Fathers

John F. Kennedy once stated during the low-water mark of his first and only term as president, that “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.”  Although I cannot ever lay claim to his gift of eloquence, I certainly consider him a kindred spirit as I reflect upon the events of the November 7th School Board Election.  Of our three endorsed candidates only Rick Shafer successfully won his bid for election to the Temecula Valley Unified School Board.  Despite our most earnest attempts both through volunteers and financial support, we were unable to find a message that could cut through the morass that was the diluted field of candidates in the race.  The plan we laid out was not effective, and the final responsibility for that lies with your elected president.

 The candidates we selected worked very hard independently and with our leadership to build solid campaigns.  We believe that Kristi and Bill did a fine job during the election cycle and should hold their heads very high.  Additionally, TVEA placed thousands and thousands of phone calls, put out fifteen thousand letters to absentee voters, walked hundreds of miles and placed over fourteen thousand door hangers in the weeks leading up to November 7th.  However, those efforts were not enough to swing the electorate over to the side of those we endorsed. 

 Ultimately, as an organization we need to assess the results, ask ourselves hard questions about where, why, and  to what degree we have become disconnected with ourselves and the community at large, then dust ourselves off and move forward. After Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs failure, which prompted the quote above, he learned from that lesson, and his policy decisions were always tempered by that event.  Your leadership hopes to follow his example and learn the powerful lessons which we hope may do the same for our association.