Checks and Balances Correction; 9/29/21 Letter to the New Canaanite by Victor Alvarez
In Chris DeMuth Jr.’ s letter of September 27th in the New Canaanite, he inaccurately cites checks and balances as the “critical question” in the upcoming Board of Education race and the reason we should elect Republicans over Democrats.
Checks and balances were introduced into the US Constitution during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, predating the existence of political parties as such. Instead, checks and balances were actually intended to check and balance the power of the different branches of government. For example, if the executive branch were to attempt to steal an election, then the legislative branch would act as a check on its power; if the legislative branch were to fail to act as a check against the executive branch, then the judicial branch would be brought to bear as an additional check against the executive branch.
It is the six Democrats standing for the Board of Education who bring balance to our local government, through their level headedness, diversity of experience, and integrity. To maintain our exceptional schools, vote Janet Fonss, Jenn Hladick, Fatou Niang, Penny Rashin, Erica Schwedel, and Karen Willet on Nov. 2nd.
Victor Alvarez
[Here is Chris DeMuth’s letter] Should leadership of New Canaan schools have any checks and balances? That is the critical question in the upcoming BoE race.
Democrats control the national and state executives and both branches of the legislatures. They have an extremely loud voice dictating how our schools are run.
Should that be the only voice? With a BoE majority at stake, we can choose whether our schools are led with one voice – monolithic and leftist – or with some diversity.
A vote for Dan Bennett, Hugo Alves, Phil Hogan, Julie Toil, and Row B is a vote for checks and balances. This is the way to protect and strengthen our schools.
Chris DeMuth Jr