In the Nick of Time

I got back about an hour ago from the swearing-in ceremony for the new School Board members of the Los Angeles Unified School District.  Normally, I don't go to such things -- or know about them -- nor do I suspect most people do.  But this was the ceremony for Nick Melvoin, whose campaign I wrote about extensively.  And I got a chance to visit there with my friends, the First Parents, Jeff and Martha Melvoin.

He made a very good speech -- and quite different from all the others (which were each nice in their own ways.  Nick's speech, though, wasn't filled with thanks, nor generalizations about Our Kids.  Rather it was more a policy speech about what was needed in the school district.  It was pointed, but very conciliatory, understanding the need for all the members of the board to work in the same direction.  But the core of his speech was that it was the needs of the school kids that had to be front and center, not any political agenda.  It went over very well, not just with the large crowd, but also the school board, which was on stage, and most of the members could be seen nodding in approval throughout, with occasional applause.  

(I also admired that alone among the new board members giving speeches, he not only acknowledged his opponent -- the former School Board president -- but did so in his first sentence, thanking him for all his years of service.  This is particularly notable because his opponent was bitter and harshly critical both throughout and even continuing after the election, slamming Nick to the press.)
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​(I should note that my photos here don't compare to those of his official photographer at the event, the First Mother.  But then Martha has an unfair advantage, given that a) she has a real camera, and b) she had been a photographer for the Los Angeles Times.)

More to the point, and above all, the operative issue about the day is that it's now officially official.  (I prefer to think that the private ceremony for family held a few days before doesn't count.  Rather, that it was just something like having a small, private wedding ceremony before the Big Event, in order to get more presents...)  Nick Melvoin is sworn in as a new member of the Los Angeles School Board.  Huzzah.