He’s been out of harm’s way for two years now since he left the school board. No more long, weeknight meetings, explaining his positions to a sometimes doubting public; done with endless reading about curriculum or maintenance issues; an end to wet, windy Saturday mornings outside Thriftway, exhorting shoppers to vote for the levy.

And yet now, having pulled his 12-year hitch of honorable, sometimes trying service, Bob Hennessey wants back in.

We have to ask: why? In his position, most of us would be delighted to reclaim our Thursday nights and get out of the public spotlight. Few of us would want to oppose the very good man now running against him. The answer is that Bob feels compelled to give back. He explains, “My parents taught me when you are given much, you are obligated to help others.”

Bob truly cares about our community. Most particularly, he is passionate about our schools. He is rightly proud of improvements made to school facilities on his watch and his leadership in those projects. Bob helped instill in the board a culture of conservation, maintaining the physical plant on each campus, to wring as many years of use from each facility as possible. He says he wants “to make sure every kid, regardless of privilege, has the same opportunities” as his own three kids have had in Vashon schools. He wants to get back to work.

Let’s help Bob fulfill his compulsion to make our schools the best they can be. Vote for Bob. I will.

— Todd Pearson