I am writing in response to the Tribune editorial of Oct. 12 regarding the six school board candidates. I found the tenor of your article to be quite negative and even accusatory.

While acknowledging that it was good to have six candidates seeking to fill the vacant seat on the school board, you then state that you can’t help but wonder where they were last autumn when two candidates ran unopposed. You then suggest they merely took “the easy route” of seeking to be appointed to the board rather than running in the election.

Your editorial comes across as being critical of these six candidates for failing to run for election last autumn when (in your view) they should have, which is why you are wondering where they were.

Like you, I don’t know where they were, but it’s quite likely they had some good reasons for not running in the election at that time. Rather than affirming those who volunteered to serve at this time (which everyone else, including me, refrained from), you fault them for not running in the election almost a year ago.

Beyond this, I don’t think it is fair to say they sought “the easy route” by being appointed by the sitting board members. We’re talking about a local election in a small community; it doesn’t take that many votes to win the election.

So which is easier: To spread the word among your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues that you are running for the school board so they will vote for you, or to be interviewed and selected by the board?

I read the questions in an earlier edition of the Tribune that the candidates would have to answer, and they certainly did not fall into the category of “easy.”

What surely is not easy is serving on the school board. It is time-consuming. It requires careful study of challenging issues. And it sometimes requires you to make difficult and unpopular decisions, as we all saw last spring when the board was forced to cut some very valued teachers. With the state budget being what it is, it is probable that more difficult decisions will have to be made. It’s a wonder that anyone would volunteer to step into that position.

I agree with you that it would have been good to have more candidates running last year so there could have been a more thorough discussion of the issues. But rather than chastising people who seek to serve our community on the school board because you don’t approve of the circumstances under which they step forward, we should commend them for their willingness to serve.

Bob Weniger

Albert Lea