Earlier this year, two candidates successfully ran as Republicans for the Board of Trustees of North Idaho College. They went so far as to put Republican on their signage and campaign literature. Currently, candidates are running as Republicans for school board and hospital board. We recommend that voters not vote for these candidates.

Here is why! Using party affiliation to get elected creates an obligation that betrays the institution they hope to represent. If they are successful, they take on the burden of representing their party rather than the institution.

Belonging to a party and running for an office differs critically from using the party as a vehicle to get elected. This is asking a political party to elect you because you will vote as the party wants you to vote. That’s a commitment board members do not have a right to make because the party, even a majority party, represents only a portion of the community. What we need from board members is objectivity.

The precedent set in the NIC election betrays our local institutions. That is a betrayal that must not continue. These candidates whether they realize it or not are doing something inherently dishonest. You cannot win an election because of your party affiliation and then say honestly, “I will vote without consideration of party.”

Regardless of your own party affiliation, vote for the people who are honestly running on their own merits rather than for what a party name can do for them. Let’s fight this bad precedent together.

RICHARD and JEAN KOHLES

Hayden