This concerns Norman Bleed's letter attacking school board president Lori Jonason (Thursday, March 28).
It violates your rules. First of all, it follows 22 days after his March 6 attack on Jonason, less time than your 30-day rule requires.
Secondly, by his personal vilification of an individual, absent any constructive comment about school board policy or decision-making, both letters violate reasonable rules for civil public discourse.
Mrs. Jonason has been a tireless supporter of public education in Rochester. I believe she has done an excellent job, but regardless of any judgment of the quality of her efforts, no one deserves to be vilified as she has been.
The Post-Bulletin does the community a disservice by amplifying and broadcasting such attacks. The editorial staff has a responsibility to provide a forum for public discourse, but it must have rules of engagement. Public debate is one thing -- mud slinging is another.
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Letters should address policy and decision-making and should not engage in vicious personal attacks. I strongly urge you to review your policies regarding acceptable content for letters.
With five school board seats available in November, it may be difficult to find five decent, intelligent citizens willing to submit to this frequent barrage. The Post-Bulletin can assist by keeping the letters to the editor out of the mud.
Paul; D. Scanlon
Rochester
; EDITOR'S NOTE: One of the two writings from Norman Bleed published in March was a response to our Hot Topic question regarding the dismissal of Superintendent Mark Shellinger, not a letter to the editor. There are no restrictions on how often someone can respond to our weekly Hot Topic question.
