Recent Forsyth BOC Appointments: The Dangers of One-Party Rule

In a recent Kicker article, we highlighted the dangers of one-party rule at any level of government. The Board of Commissioners’ (BOC) recent and unpublicized appointments of the spouses of two Board of Education (BOE) members to the County’s Public Library Board highlight this worry. 

Both women—Florence Valdes and Jakima McCall—are unsuitable to hold these roles. 
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Florence Valdes, together with her BOE member husband, Mike Valdes, were founding members of the Forsyth County No Left Turn in Education chapter. No Left Turn in Education is a national group that works to ban books, alter curriculum they find “uncomfortable” (e.g., slavery, the actual nature of the founding of the country and so on) or demonize LQBTQ+ people). After the Southern Poverty Law Center identified No Left Turn in Education as an extremist anti government group, the Valdeses rebranded their chapter into Forsyth Family Alliance. 

Jakima McCall, also a member of No Left Turn in Education and Forsyth Family Alliance, was removed from a job at a preschool several years ago because of accusations that she and her husband hacked social media accounts and misrepresented images. Her husband, Wes McCall, was removed from a position for the same action. Now, both hold important posts in our cherished public library system, but have both espoused ideas that are antithetical to free reading, inclusive education, and diverse learning. Our Forsyth Board of Commissioners felt no compunction in appointing them to the library board simply as a favor, and now a good deal of power over reading and learning in this county is concentrated in the hands of two married couples, people who are not appropriate for these posts. 

Write to your BOC members to object to their knowingly appointing people who are unqualified and unfit for these important roles: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]