Published in the April 8, 2021 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
By now, you’ve probably heard that the School Committee voted on March 23 to eliminate the Wakefield Warrior logo.
You may have inferred from that 5-2 vote that the issue is settled and the April 27 Town Election vote on the Warrior logo ballot question is now moot.
That’s exactly what the School Committee wants you to think. It’s the main reason they voted when they did – to make you believe the April 27 ballot question no longer matters. That, and to show their utter disdain for the process. They alone know best. The voters be damned.
As much as it was a vote to eliminate the logo, the March 23 School Committee vote was also an effort to depress the pro-Warrior turnout on April 27.
If their ploy works, they can then claim vindication and say that the voters backed their decision at the polls. As cynical and calculating as that sounds, it’s exactly how they think.
But even as the anti-logo side is hoping you’ll conclude that it’s a done deal and you don’t need to show up and vote, their own actions tell a very different story. The anti-logo forces are going to great lengths to make sure that their own people get out on April 27 and vote to “retire” the logo.
They are putting an awful lot of time, money and effort toward influencing a vote on an issue that they’d like you to believe is a done deal, a fait accompli, a moot point.
Why are they doing all this? Because they know the April 27 vote on the Warrior logo ballot question still matters. A lot.
If it doesn’t matter, why did they go to the trouble of organizing a “Vote No” campaign committee?
If it doesn’t matter, why are they raising money through national political action committee “ActBlue” to defeat a local grassroots effort to save the Warrior?
If it’s a done deal, what’s the point of all those “Vote No” signs?
If the April 27 vote doesn’t matter, why bother creating a web site and Facebook page urging people to vote “no” on April 27?
If it doesn’t matter, what’s the purpose of those copycat rallies and standouts every Saturday?
If it doesn’t matter, why have scores of “Save the Warrior” lawn signs been stolen from people’s yards?
If it’s a done deal, what was the point of holding yet another “community discussion” on April 6 on “the importance of retiring the Wakefield Warrior logo.” If it doesn’t matter, why were two current anti-logo School Committee members featured speakers? If it’s a done deal, why were they collecting $20 “donations” from everyone who attended their April 6 “community discussion?”
Actions speak louder than words. The actions of the anti-logo crowd show that they believe the vote on April 27 is enormously important.
The pro-Warrior side had better believe it too.
