October 5, 2022 - Editor and fellow citizens of Mariposa County;

Today I write to you to endorse Kelly Salonen for District 3 Mariposa County School Board Trustee. Kelly is a veteran, a patriot, a parent, and a passionate, energetic, and dedicated fighter. Her can-do attitude is infectious, inspiring, and extremely effective at instituting real and meaningful change to established paradigms.

My wife and I have 7 children together, 5 of whom are in public schools in Mariposa. We are an active 4-H family, and our children are paramount to everything we are and do. This past year I wrote multiple well researched letters to the school board demonstrating that their/Sacramento’s policies were not in the best interests of our children. The letters had little to no effect and were greeted with hollow appreciation for “being involved in the process”. As we continue along the tail end of the pandemic, more and more evidence comes to light to show how detrimental those policies were for our children, with mostly inconsequential mitigating effects for the disease… but our board still followed the policies “because the government said to”. This is not only contrary to the beliefs and culture of my family and the way we desire our children to be educated, but even worse- it’s a bad example for our children; critical thinking has been replaced by blind adherence to authority; representation of Mariposa’s 17,000 citizens has been replaced via Sacramento proxy by the needs of Los Angeles County’s 10 million inhabitants. Fundamental democracy, especially in education, has been usurped by Tony Thurmond and Miguel Cardona. Mariposa’s voice in the way our children are being educated has been drummed out by the authoritarian indoctrination campaign of modern politicians on both sides- and the message is clear: big government knows how to raise your children better than you do.

I believe that the citizens’ ability to stand up to state officials and mandates through our elected officials is of the utmost importance, especially in local elections and especially now. What is right for Sacramento, Los Angeles, or San Francisco is rarely what is right for Mariposa. We need a trustee who not only knows and celebrates this fact, but is willing to bravely speak up in the face of great adversity from Sacramento and the status quo among us. This process begins with listening to the constituents with an open mind. It continues with unique perspectives, open dialog, and a steadfast dedication to the principles that our nation was founded upon- and an unwavering dedication to our nation’s future, and most precious resource; our children. I believe that Kelly Salonen possesses much more than these qualities and will be an upstanding champion of our unique community.

Mariposa needs energetic fresh blood to represent the parents’ voice for choice in all educational matters. Someone who is receptive, dynamic, witty, and filled with the fire of Liberty. Someone who will fight for my children as if they were her own. Join me in voting for Kelly Salonen for District 3 Mariposa County School Board Trustee, there is no better choice.

Danny A. Brown Jr.
Agua Fria, CA