Would you buy a pig in a poke?

This phrase dates to the 1500s when it indeed referred to a pig sold in a bag (poke), when dishonest sellers would place a cat in the bag instead of a piglet.

In the mining economy of the American West, Summit County being a perfect example, gold panning miners would fill up small bags (pokes) with gold dust. When the bag was full, they would take it to town for it to be weighed to collect cash or credit based on the weight. Dishonest miners would hide a chunk of lead (a pig) in the bag to increase the weight and thus the value of the poke. The moral of this story is don’t trust unknown scammers. Be diligent. Examine the goods carefully lest you be fooled.

During this election season, we are asked to vote either for those who are thoroughly vetted and well known by their track record of volunteer and community service (Kate Hudnut, Johanna Kugler, Lisa Webster and Chris Guarino) or for those who have little or no track record, just glitzy promotional materials and nice sounding platitudes (the 4 For the Kids slate) but have hidden agendas. The four are, however, on record via the transcribed chat comments derived from a school board meeting in May where they laid out in unfriendly, even rude, terms their objections to the school board’s proposed policies. By their deeds ye shall know them.

Don’t be fooled. Don’t buy a pig in a poke in the school board election. Stay with the known candidates: Hudnut, Webster, Guarino and Kugler.