Why I'm supporting independents, Democrats and Republicans

I urge voters to consider personal qualifications of candidates - rather than simply party affiliations. My votes for unaffiliated/independent candidates Ann Diamond and Salley Bull are for their ability to unite people rather than divide them. I support Democrat Christine Brown for joining these independents in their push for good healthcare for all.

I support Republican Arian Noma for Okanogan County prosecutor because he addresses, with knowledge and passion, a consistently minimized issue. In 2015, the U.S. held 21.0 percent of the world’s prisoners, while representing only around 4.4 percent of the world’s population. Zero tolerance school policies, prosecution of juveniles for minor “crimes” (Google “School to Prison Pipeline”) and failures to grant due process all increase incarceration of youngsters who later return to prison. Noma’s experience teaching and in the legal sector of our nation’s capital has enhanced his awareness of the implications of this local, state, and national emergency.

Thirty-one years of full-time teaching, 27 of them in this county, confirm the tragedy here at home. A Native American girl joined my sixth-grade class in a district where I previously taught. The product of numerous foster homes, she had been sent to “juvie” for kicking another student under the table. In 2012, a Latino sixth-grader, with problems requiring Special-Ed help since preschool, was expelled from the same school without due process. Although the school was ordered to readmit him and retrain staff after his teacher’s complaint to the state, he had missed substantial schooling and didn’t make it; his teacher was reported to the state for “misbehaving with an officer of the court” for making one phone call to the prosecutor’s office asking for a (non-existent) Spanish-friendly phone number the mother could call about paperwork sent to her in English.

Vote Noma.

Isabelle Spohn

Twisp