School Board President Resigns Due to Wife’s Comments About Kamala Harris
Written by SOURCE on November 11, 2020
A San Francisco Bay Area school board president has resigned from his duties following racist comments from his wife aimed at VP-elect Kamala Harris.
According to a report from a regional Bay Area NBC outlet, Jon Venverloh announced his resignation from the Las Lomitas Elementary School District in Menlo Park on Sunday. Earlier that same day, his Trump-supporting wife—identified in the report as Mehridith Philips Venverloh—shared a number of posts about Harris including comments later described as being part of her “reprehensible views” not shared by Jon.
In a tweet, for example, Mehridith said of Harris “All she needs to be qualified is a black [crude term for female genitalia]. No brain needed!”
Following the comments, a letter by the Las Lomitas Education Association was shared that carried the signature of more than 100 people.
“Bigoted statements that question the integrity, accomplishment, and character of people of color, of women, of LGBTQ people, and of people who live at the intersections of these community are intolerable and have no place in our Las Lomitas family or on either of our campuses,” the letter stated, per Mercury News.
In a subsequent statement regarding her remarks that have since been condemned by school board members as a “racially based” example of “gender-based hatred,” Mehridith said she was “deeply sorry.” However, she also attempted to lay the blame on a “change in medication” related to a neurological condition.
In his own statement, Jon Venverloh said that a continuation of his service—in light of his wife’s behavior—would ultimately “be a distraction” to the work that needs to be done in the district.
