Similar attacks occurred four years ago toward Scott Bell, who was the first candidate to challenge our previously unopposed school board member.

The irony here is that those questioning Dr. Olsen’s willingness to hear their voice are unwilling to actually make themselves known. Hiding behind a fictitious organization without the mettle to be recognized by name is cowardly. The claims such “organizations” have made in anonymity always tell us more about themselves than about the person whom they are attacking.

Quentin L. Cook stated, “Any use of the Internet to bully, destroy a reputation or place a person in a bad light is reprehensible … when people wear the mask of anonymity, they are more likely to engage in this kind of conduct, which is so destructive of civil discourse.” A great reminder as we head into another politically charged November.

As for Dr. Olsen, I am confident he will continue in the path of principle. He will not employ his time in smearing his opponent but rather in meeting with the parents, students and teachers of Alpine School District.

Final note: A public meeting is not the only forum (neither, perhaps, is it the most effective forum) to be heard by a school board member. Personal visits, phone calls, emails, Facebook comments and even snail-mail correspondence are all respectable methods of constituent-board member communication. Claiming to want your voice heard and refusing to even show your face, not so respectable.

– Liz Bell, Orem