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Petition targets board member
By BARBARA BEHRENDT © St. Petersburg Times, published January 12, 2001 INVERNESS -- Because of her opinion on the separation of church and state, Carol Snyder has faced angry phone calls, pointed comments from the public and stinging criticisms in letters to the editor. Now a local man has begun a petition drive to send Snyder a message of "no confidence." "This is a frustration step," said Don Bates, the leader of the drive. He said he had hoped that he could start a recall drive, but found out that School Board members cannot be recalled. Only City Council members and other elected officials in charter counties can. Even then, the only reasons for recall are a list of specific offenses including negligence, malfeasance and conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude. "You can see why this is written that way," said Supervisor of Elections Susan Gill. "That way it's not just because you have differing opinions. . . . The recall is really the next election that comes." Bates said if he has anything to do about it, Snyder won't succeed if she runs again. "Basically we want to say, we're not going to forget this," he said. "Enjoy your two years, sweetie, because you don't have any more." The petition states that, as a member of the board, Snyder "by statements and activities has demonstrated herself to be contrary and opposed to the political, moral and educational philosophies of the undersigned." It concludes that a signature indicates a "vote of no confidence." "I think she needs to know that she is out of step with the community," said Bates, a member of Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church and a friend of Mark Stone, who previously held the School Board seat Snyder was elected to fill in September. Stone resigned midterm to run for tax collector. "I think she came with a hidden agenda," Bates said. "You judge people by what they spend their time doing." He said Snyder has spent a lot of time dealing with the prayer issue. Snyder asked at her first meeting as a board member for the board to consider switching from strictly Christian prayers mentioning Jesus Christ to those addressing "almighty God." After further discussion with the community, she changed her opinion and suggested a moment of silence instead so no one would feel left out. Then, just before winter break, she raised a question about the appropriateness of a Christmas party by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Inverness Middle School. At that party, which was going on at a time when all other students were in class, students attending were told to profess their belief in Christ or face hell. Snyder has maintained that the activity was taking students away from important class work, but also that it violates the law. Bates said that Snyder should have revealed her interest in the religion and schools issue when she first ran for office, rather than bringing it up after she got elected. "I think a deception took place," he said, noting that voters should know whom they are choosing to represent them. He said he knew Snyder wasn't representing her community. "This is the Bible Belt," he said. "I'm sick of hearing her say, "down here' and "up there.' It just shows how out of step she is." Snyder came to the county about a year and a half ago from Ohio, where she had served on a school board for 16 years. Bates said his goal was to gather as many petition signatures as she had votes in the county plus one, just to show her that people who did vote for her might not have if they had known her agenda. That might be a tall order: Snyder earned 13,320 votes, or 65 percent of the total. Snyder said she learned of the petition drive Thursday morning from the county school district office. She said citizens had a right to sign the petition and that it didn't really bother her. "That's fine," she said. "They don't have to like me." She said she had been honest with anyone who asked her before the election that she believed in a moment of silence at board meetings, and said she never tried to hide her opinion on the issue. She even raised the issue with former Superintendent Pete Kelly, who didn't want to deal with the topic. "It wasn't my main agenda and I didn't ever think it was important enough to bring it up as a main issue," she said, noting that she thought that once she raised the issue, the other board members wouldn't have a problem with making the prayer more inclusive. Snyder said she has heard from voters who have told her they are sorry they voted for her but that there is more than one opinion on the topic. "I do know I represent a great many people, even if they are not the vast majority," she said. She added that the petition will not slow her down in doing what she believes is right. "I've got another one year and 10 months, and I intend to do my job as far as I see it under my responsibility to uphold the Constitution," Snyder said. Bates is currently distributing petitions to anyone who contacts him at P.O. Box 243, Lecanto, FL 34460. On another front in the prayer issue, Charles Schrader, the Marion County community activist who prayed a Wiccan prayer interrupting the Christian prayer at Tuesday's board meeting, sent some additional information to the School Board on Thursday. He has sought time on the board agendas for Feb. 13 to talk about the petition and Feb. 27 to speak about how the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has been linked to school violence. The meeting on the 27th has been scheduled to talk about the prayer issue, with discussion to begin at 5:30 p.m. at Lecanto High School. Of the petition, Schrader said, "People need to know that when they sign her liberties and freedoms away, theirs may be next."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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