On Tuesday, the Sarasota County School Board ludicrously spent hours discussing Board Chair Bridget Ziegler’s pointless and needless resolution calling on the school district to show unwavering support for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its efforts in this community.
And the five board members spent additional time carrying out a vote on Ziegler’s pointless and needless resolution, which passed by a 3-2 margin.
But let’s be real here.
There’s only one measure of time that’s truly relevant when it comes to Bridget Ziegler’s ICE resolution.
Because it’s the same measure of time that defines pretty much everything else Bridget Ziegler does as a Sarasota County School Board member.
It’s 15 minutes.
As in the 15 minutes of unwarranted fame that Ziegler seems determined to keep ticking on into perpetuity by finding one divisive issue after another to exploit and manipulate.
Silly resolution ticked all the boxes
And, boy, did Ziegler’s silly ICE resolution tick all the boxes to keep her 15 minutes, well, ticking.
Let’s go down the list:
Need a highly polarizing national issue – the controversial presence of ICE in communities across America – that can be hyped into some urgent local crisis even though there were absolutely no signs of conflict between ICE and the Sarasota County Schools district?
Check.
Tick . . . tick . . . tick.
Need another opportunity to vilify fellow Board Member Tom Edwards – who attended a local protest regarding ICE and has become a longtime target of conservative bile because he’s a gay, progressive elected official – to maintain your status as a fierce culture warrior?
Check.
Tick . . . tick . . . tick.
Need a great way to attract publicity on high-profile national platforms like Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast – and get your name on everyone’s lips as a rumored candidate for Sarasota County’s House District 74 seat?
Check.
Tick . . . tick . . . tick.
On Tuesday, the Sarasota County School Board wasted an extraordinary number of minutes on a largely symbolic resolution that: a) never should have been introduced, and b) never should have been allowed to generate the intense uproar and division it caused in our community over the past several days.
But Bridget Ziegler’s 15 minutes of outsized attention just keeps on ticking on.
And on.
And on.
Tick . . . tick . . . tick.
Talk about time spent poorly!
Opinion Editor Roger Brown can be reached at roger.brown@heraldtribune.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at RBrown_HTOpin.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Bridget Ziegler gets what she wanted from ICE resolution | Opinion
Reporting by Roger Brown, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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