There are many candidates running for Easts Ridge City Council whom I know and respect. However I feel strongly that Matthew DeGlopper and Robert Stahl would bring passion, energy, and a breath of fresh air to the council.

We need some new blood and council members who carefully study an issue from all angles, then proceed with their constituents in mind. They are passionate about our public schools, and trusts or trusted  the education of their children to the teachers there.

I am not discounting the wonderful education I received at the Lutheran School, and that kids in my old neighborhood on Maryland Drive received at OLPH. I received the same high quality of education at ERHS from 1960-1965. Principal Jack Rodman, teachers Paul and Mary Starnes, Elaine Bartlett, Sammy Grissom, Herb Hooper, JB Wimberly, Patrick O’Shea,  Mack Franklin, Betty Rush Robinson, and Foister B. Davis nurtured me, challenged me to be the best me I could be. They guided me with gentle but firm discipline, and when I strayed helped me reset my moral compass and get back on the path again.

We still have great teachers in our public schools, parents who trust us with educating their children, and children who come to school excited to learn. However, today’s world is very different from growing up in the 1950’s. Teachers, parents, and students face challenges we never dreamed of facing.

I firmly believe we can’t return to those Glory Days but as a community, with long-term goals and a shared vision in place, we can have an East Ridge where all our citizenry can be proud.

_ Sandy Norris Smith