Margaret Barron isn't into politics — she's 8 years old.
So the Fresno Unified student was confused when she received a campaign letter from Michelle Arax Asadoorian, who is running for Bullard-area school board trustee.
"She kind of looked at me and said, 'Why am I getting this?'" said Margaret's father, Joe Barron.
Barron attended Wed-nesday's Fresno Unified board meeting to tell incumbents and challengers in the board race that sending political mailings to children isn't appropriate because of privacy issues.
"The fact of the matter is, parents try to be very judicious at guarding their children," he said.
On Thursday, Arax Asadoorian said the letter addressed to Margaret — and to other children in youth athletics programs — was, in fact, intended for parents.
In a prepared statement, Arax Asadoorian said the letter campaign began when a sports league approached her with concerns about poor conditions on district playing fields.
The league's board provided a mailing list to the Arax Asadoorian campaign, the statement said.
After that, Arax Asadoorian said, other coaches and sports leagues shared their mailing lists, and her campaign sent out nearly 4,000 letters addressed to "Dear Parents and Future Athlete." Some of the leagues apparently provided the names of children, which resulted in letters such as the one Margaret received.
Figarden Youth Soccer League President Bob Adams said his board decided to give the campaign its mailing list of about 2,100 players in an effort to look out for their safety. He said some field conditions are "just dangerous."
"No one's ever really listened to any of our requests to get things done," he said.
Arax Asadoorian's letter described the deteriorated condition of some Fresno Unified athletic facilities, including weed-ridden fields full of holes and rock-hard infields.
"We need to stop settling for less," the letter said. "The disrepair of our campuses and facilities is one of the main reasons I am running for School Board."
Voices for Excellence in Fresno Unified, a group supporting Arax Asadoorian's opponent, incumbent Pat Barr, blasted the letter campaign.
"Signing up for JV baseball or youth soccer is not the same as registering to vote," said Voices campaign coordinator Cathy Caples. "Students go to school to learn, not to be pawns in a school board campaign."
Arax Asadoorian defended the letters, saying many parents responded positively because "a candidate is finally looking out for the safety and well-being of their children."
"My campaign is a grass-roots campaign, and this letter was a way to reach people directly," she said.
Meanwhile, Barron hoped his daughter's "mail life" won't include future political letters.
Play-date invitations? Those are OK.
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