Candidates asking for our votes should not be shutting community members out of the conversation.
Courtesy of Briana Heathcott on Nextdoor

I recently learned that community members who have disagreed with or challenged the Laguna beach school board candidates are being blocked from their pages on social media. Their comments are also being deleted.

That is incredibly disappointing.

School board members represent the entire community — not just the people who support them. Elections should be an opportunity for candidates to hear different perspectives, answer difficult questions, and demonstrate how they will engage with people who disagree with them.

Blocking community members may make a campaign page more comfortable, but it doesn’t build trust. And it raises a fair question: If disagreement is shut out during the campaign, what should residents expect after the election?

We don’t all have to agree. In fact, we shouldn’t. Healthy communities need respectful disagreement, transparency, and leaders who are willing to engage with criticism rather than simply make it disappear.

Whatever candidates you support, I hope we can agree on that standard.