Michelle Hutchins, Candidate for Mendocino County Superintendent of Schools

Mendocino TV interviews Michelle Hutchins for Building Healthy Communities

In our continuing series of election coverage we interviewed Michelle Hutchins about her job, her opinions and her candidacy for Mendocino County Superintendent of Schools. I invited Bryan Barrett to participate in our series of interviews via telephone and e-mail which he later denied receiving. I made them and could hear little children screaming in the background, so I assumed that I contacted his home number, the proper number to call a candidate. Instead of replying to our invitation, I received several calls about Michelle from members of Bryan Barrett’s campaign staff telling me negative information about Michelle Hutchins.

I find this behavior disturbing. In this tiny county, campaigning by rumor and innuendo may have been effective in the past, but Mendocino TV strives to rise above that with sticking to the issues. How does the candidate perform in real life experiences? What issues are important to them? Do they know and understand what is important to their constituency? We couldn’t care less who has endorsements or not. Like having PAC support, endorsements tell us nothing about the candidate, so we were eager to explore her candidacy. What resulted was refreshing, honest and somewhat raw. I learned that a Superintendent of County Schools is quite a task.

I hope you find this interview informative.

Terry Vaughn, Producer for Mendocino TV