EBRSchoolBoard Dist.6 - Dyason - WhatWouldReaganDo?

"I will not hold my opponent's youth and inexperience against him."
- Ronald Reagan (October 21, 1984)

In just a couple of weeks, Ronald Reagan would win one of the largest landslide victories in modern Presidential election history over Walter Mondale – winning 49 of 50 states.

Likewise today, a young & inexperienced challenger is running for District 6 school board against an experienced and successful incumbent in Jill Dyason.

Mr. Rust embodied his image of youthful ignorance and unfamiliarity with local politics in his recent comments to The Advocate article below:
LINK

He is quoted as saying:
“If somebody is a sitting school board member and signed a petition to break away from the school board, I question what that says about their own belief in that system and what that says about them as a board member,”

Mr. Rust managed to squeeze 3 major factual errors into a single run-on sentence – while still never signing either petition or even being able to.
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1.) The “petition” Mr. Rust refers to was only to give voters the _opportunity_ to vote on the measure, it was not a vote _for_ incorporation. The referendum would still be decided by an independent popular vote at the ballot box of registered voters in the area.

2.) The new city was created out of the existing unincorporated area. There was no "breaking away" as Mr. Rust claims. But by parroting that specious BRAC talking point he shows he may not be "pro-St. George" as he claims.

3.) The incorporation petition had nothing to do with a new school district. A new school district is a separate process which will require a state-wide vote and does not necessarily even follow the new city's boundaries. Yet he still conflates the two and criticizes Jill for signing as a sitting School Board member.
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As someone who has "core Libertarian beliefs", the fact Mr. Rust would support a citizen have their right to petition the government be somehow invalidated is very concerning for civil rights. We even allow the President of the United States to vote for himself in the election!

All of these show a distinct lack of knowledge of the political process or worse an underlying antagonism by repeating the BRAC anti-St. George party line. A line that is still trumpeted by the failing Mayor Broome administration to this very day.

Which brings us to Mr. Rust's campaign's supporter, BRAC. They've recently been cloying to the downtown Baton Rouge city leadership. BRAC has been conspicuously absent lately from any major politics of note (except this school board election for some reason!).

For example, BRAC has been very quiet about Mayor Broome's recent fiasco of a stormwater tax as she tried to shackle EBR citizens with tens of millions in unneeded new taxes. (See attached photo of BRAC standing with Mayor Broome in solidarity.)



Even the Baton Rouge Business Report recently published an op-ed by Mr. J.R. Ball calling out BRAC for their pro-Mayor stances:
LINK
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"Speaking of silence, where has BRAC been on this scandal? Adam Knapp and the chamber's executive committee need to decide if the organization is a $325,000 puppet of the administration or the voice of the business community."
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That says a lot about Jill's principles to me when a "puppet of the Broome administration" won’t support her - instead endorsing Mr. Rust.

On to the attack flyers put out by Mr. Scott Wilfong's "Watchdog PAC".
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** FLYER #1 – “Jill Dyason supported a plan to fire Sheriff deputies as school resource officers…just like they have in Uvalde…”
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First off, to Mr. Scott Wilfong & the Rust campaign management – you are huckstering political points from one of the worst tragedies in recent memory, on the back of dead students That’s pretty reprehensible. You could have made the same point minus a couple of words but you chose to go there.

But while certainly offensive, it's not surprising. A friend who's known Mr. Wilfong (of Watchdog PAC) for decades described him this way:

"Scott Wilfong is the Taco Bell of politics – everything he touches turns to $hit."

Here's the truth on what Jill’s school security plan actually called for:

• An increase in officer pay from $35/hr to $42/hr to increase retention, quantity, & quality of participants.
• New private officers earmarked for the elementary schools.
• These new officers are _in addition to_ the existing deputies in middle & high schools, which are under an existing contract between EBRPSS, BRPD, and EBRSO.
• Jill was responsible for the proposal and agenda item of to add the additional safety officers (proudly) and is working diligently to ensure our schools are safe. A combined plan which also includes ensuring operational cameras in all schools as well as active shooter training in all schools for all 6000 EBR employees.

Jill has worked to ensure our students are as safe as possible and supports our deputies having all the proper tools necessary to defend our children from whatever or whoever may attempt to harm them. A responsibility she takes seriously.

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** FLYER #2 – “We can't afford more of Jill Dyason's bad decisions…"
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What bad decisions has Jill made? This should be a relatively easy answer as she's had the opportunity to make hundreds of votes on the board over the years. Our District 6 schools have prospered under her care – more programs, more opportunities, and not just in new selective admission charter schools but in public schools that accept children from all walks of life.

What has Mr. Rust proposed for his Day 1 agenda? With the Rust campaign, there's a lot of “change” but very little sense.


IN CONCLUSION…
We have a choice this time around between an experienced, conservative, and successful representative & advocate for our District 6 children - or an inexperienced political vagabond.

The choice for experience seems as clear here as it was in 1984.