Dexter Forum Notes 06-04-22

From John Hansen, Moderator

School superintendent Chris Timmis joined us fresh from handing out diplomas to the largest-ever graduating class at Dexter High School but less for celebrating and more to provide some reassurance that the Dexter schools are doing everything reasonably possible to keep kids safe. He noted that during his superintending career he has had to send out 20 letters of reassurance to parents after school shootings around the country. Pediatricians and social workers in the group all voiced concerns about the mental health of kids who have all now grown up in an era of mass shootings at schools (and churches and hospitals and concerts and grocery stores).

And then it was stump time. This is our own little special feature where we invite candidates (who have primary opponents) who have found us to step up (3/4") and give us their stump speech. The speeches are not summarized here to avoid 'misunderstandings' and to give you all a reason to attend in person.

Today we heard from:

Sue Shink (D) candidate for State Senate District 14

Karl Barr (NP) candidate for District Court 14-A

Carrie Rheingans (D) candidate for State Representative District 47

We ended with a little discussion about gathering signatures on petitions to run for office. For some offices like school board and state rep, you can just pay a filing fee of $100 and you don't have to gather any signatures. For City council, the required number is 15 (as best we can remember) and for governor it has to be 15,000. To change or make a new state law the number is more like 350,000.

The next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be on Saturday, June 18, 2022, at 8:30 AM at the Dexter Wellness Center. We will have another set of candidates on the stump.