Remembering Terry Slatic and thanking him for his service | Fresno Bee letters

Kudos to Terry Slatic for serving

I would like to thank school board Trustee Terry Slatic for four years of dedicated service to the 70,000 students of Fresno Unified.The No. 1 duty of a school board is to select the best qualified superintendent to lead the district. Boards don’t micromanage, but put the job in the hands of that CEO.

Elected school boards are one of the most powerful political entities around. They are one of the closest to the public.

There should be more academic accountability. Fresno Unified test results show more than 60% failure in state reading standards and more than 80% in math standards. If this were an athletic team, the coach would be fired.

I served on two school boards in my career. We held our superintendent’s feet to the fire.

Finally, also as a military veteran, I say “Semper fi,” Maj. Slatic. You were always faithful.

Measure E’s defeat is a missed chance

I am a concerned citizen and seek to bring notice of a great loss to the Central Valley: The defeat of Measure E on Nov. 8.

This would have provided scholarships to low-income students and expanded access to programs such as nursing, agriculture, and engineering to Fresno State students. Measure E was investing in the future generation of positive growth for the Central Valley. One example is the lesson learned from the COVID pandemic, which had overwhelmed the health-care system. The pandemic’s unforeseen effect left hospitals in need of more nurses. Today, every hospital in the Central Valley is being supported by traveling nurses from other states.

I would like to appeal to the people of the Central Valley regarding Measure E, which could have impacted the education system in many positive ways. The Central Valley would have been producing more local nurses from Fresno State. In return, the local hospitals can be supported by local nurses, and the money generated would stay in the Central Valley.

Too much money for Fresno State sports

Regarding the failure of the Fresno State improvement tax, I spent 28 years as a professor there. I taught in buildings that should have been torn down, and dealt with the ever-present funding shortfall. But I voted no on the tax.

The reason is that hidden in the measure is a provision that one-third of the tax money could be used for athletics.

According to the budget posted on the Bulldog’s website, the university already contributes more than $22 million to a total athletic budget of about $41 million. Staff expenditures are over $18 million, of which about $1.4 million goes to the football coach. That’s enough.

When I came to Fresno State, I thought that the mission of the university was to teach young people how to think critically and to encourage them to do so, and to find ways to use that knowledge to the betterment of us all. And I will concede that sports can be a small part of that mix. But at Fresno State athletics has grown out of proportion to what it should be.

If the measure is put forth again with any allowance for athletics, I will again vote no.

District attorney not a good example

It is disgusting to see the district attorney of our county carrying out dirty tricks against political opponents and then clumsily claiming ignorance.

My grandmother, who worked for the county as a probation officer for 30 years, would be fighting like hell to against the incompetence and malice of Lisa Smittcamp if she were alive to do it.

DA Smittcamp sticks by the law

I am writing this in complete support of our District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp.

We have known Lisa for many years. She loves this community and cares deeply about the safety of all of our people.

Lisa does not play favorites. She sticks by the law. We are privileged and proud to call Lisa Smittcamp our friend and district attorney.

Respect Marriage Act won’t change anything

It’s sad that in this time in history President Biden had to sign a bill recognizing LGBTQIA and interracial marriages. My wife and I are an interracial couple. We have been married 38 years. We had no idea we were not legal.

Everyone is aware the LGBTQIA population has had a difficult time being accepted. Biden’s declaration sounds great, but realistically it does not change anything. Both of these issues will eventually find their way to the Supreme Court. I believe whatever the issue is at that time the court will find in favor of the LGBTQIA or interracial marriages.

However, nothing will change in this century or the ones to follow because of the attitudes embedded deeply in our population’s minds. I wish I was wrong, but I see no reason to be optimistic. Biden’s political ploy will soon be forgotten.

This story was originally published December 18, 2022 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Remembering Terry Slatic and thanking him for his service | Fresno Bee letters."