Many Fillmore residents were unhappy to find out that they could not attend the swearing-in ceremonies of both Fillmore City Council members and our new School Board.

A strong effort was made to have the school board ceremony set for any day but December 9 because that was the city's regularly scheduled time to meet.

A suggestion was made to have a joint swearing-in ceremony on the 9th, but that too was rejected by the School Board president, without explanation. That possibility would have given everyone an opportunity to witness, and take photos, of both ceremonies. It would also have been a nice token of cooperation between the city's two most important governing bodies.

It's a shame both ceremonies were forced to take place on the same evening in two separate venues. The Gazette, of course, could not attend both, so we have no story of the District event, and, but for pictures provided by Todd Schieferle, we would also have no photos of the historical event. Thanks go out to Mr. Schieferle for his generosity.

Two newly-elected Board members each tried to facilitate a solution to this simple problem, without success.

I hope this childish lack of cooperation on the part of the School Board president doesn't point to a future of micro-management.

Memo: It's a new beginning. Let's start out on the right foot.