There's quite the contest going on in Alexandria, Minnesota, between Jeff Patience and Maureen Eigen for a seat on the public school board. It's reflected in the letters section of the Alexandria Echo Press where there's a vigorous back-and-forth between supporters of each candidate.
To place a letter supporting a candidate, the supporter has to pay for the space (a policy across Forum Communications papers), so these epistles are not sent lightly.
One letter asked readers to Confirm accuracy of statements in Alexandria School Board race. It's from Aagard founder and CEO Brenton Smith, a very successful area business leader. Smith writes:
I have heard fairly often in this 206 school board campaign that Maureen Eigen is anti-mask and anti-vaccination. I am Maureen’s father, and I have never heard her say such things. So after the latest round of what I believed to be inaccurate comments in the letters to the editor of this newspaper, I called my daughter and asked her straight up.
She said: “I am a strong supporter of health freedom. I believe your personal medical decisions should be between you and your personal doctor. Whether or not you receive a vaccination or wear a mask is your personal choice. All people should have the right to self-govern their bodies, and individuals should be fully respected and supported regarding their decisions.”
So I respectfully ask community members to please confirm the accuracy of your statements prior to making them. This will help us all accurately understand where our candidates stand on the issues.
Smith makes an excellent point.
Has Eigen ever said anything that led some of the citizens of the Alexandra school district think that she's anti-vax and anti-mask?
The anti-vaxx companion she promotes
We certain would wonder about the former when her campaign hosted an event featuring Dr. Bob Zajac as the featured speaker, according to her campaign Facebook page:
In August 2021, Glenn Howatt reported in Minnesota pediatrician disciplined for discouraging childhood vaccines:
An Eden Prairie pediatrician has been disciplined by the state medical board for telling parents that childhood vaccines are not safe.
The Minnesota Board of Medical Practice said Dr. Robert Zajac engaged in "unethical or improper conduct" and knowingly provided "false or misleading information" that is directly related to patient care.
The board received four complaints against Zajac dating to 2017, some filed by other physicians. Some of the complaints alleged that he was not following evidence-based medicine and that he was "actively encouraging parents not to vaccinate their children."
Zajac went to federal court in an attempt to quash the board's investigation, claiming that his free speech and due process rights were being violated. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in February.
Zajac reached a negotiated settlement, known as a stipulation, with the medical board in May, which approved it in July. . . .
The complaints against Zajac allege that he overstated the risks that vaccines pose to children and that he encourages parents to delay or avoid routine vaccinations.
Zajac estimated that 20% of his pediatric patients received none of the recommended vaccines at their two-month visit when he was interviewed by the board's complaint review committee in August 2019.
By comparison, 1.3% of 2-year-old children nationally had not received any recommended vaccines, while 90% of 2-year-olds had received the recommended polio, hepatitis B, varicella and measles, mumps and rubella shots, a board official noted, according to court documents.
Additionally, 50% of his patients received some of the vaccines at two months, while 30% were fully vaccinated according to the recommended schedule.
Zajac told board investigators that he did recommend the CDC's vaccine schedule, but the clinic's website said it was a "non judgment clinic" about alternative schedules.
When parents ask about vaccine safety, Zajac told the board committee that he uses statements he made in an interview on an anti-vaccine website as his "starting point."
"The vaccinated kids are the sickest; the partially vaccinated kids are not as sick; and the unvaccinated kids are the healthiest," Zajac was quoted as saying in a court filing. . . .
Howatt notes that Zajac got into trouble for anti-vaxx positions that had nothing to do with COVID-19 vaccines:
Zajac was not accused of spreading disinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine in the state's order or in court filings. By the time the stipulation with the pediatrician had been reached in late May, the vaccine had only been available to teenagers for a few weeks.
We can see why promoting the views of this health care provider might lead Alexandria residents to suspect that she likes what he's saying. But perhaps this is just guilt by association.
Has Maureen Eigen ever said anything anti-mask?
Anti-mask sentiments? We watched a YouTube online of a July 6 pre-primary Alexandria school board candidate forum held at the Cornerstone Church in which Eigen elaborates on her views about vaccines, masks and social distancing in answering the questions in the screengrab at the top of the page.
This is her answer:
I definitely think we, hope that we don't have to experience that again. My views are actually really clear. I believe very strongly in health freedoms and getting to choose. I'm against mandatory vaccination in all ways and I don't think masks are effective. I think that they have a--they are social consequences for our children being raised that you can't see the face of your teacher. You can't see the person speaking and I don't think--I think a virus can move through the mask and that it wasn't necessary and I definitely don't support doing it again in the future.
I think we've seen also social distancing requirements decrease because the science just didn't support it and so I am definitely for getting back to a normal life. I would hate to see children having to do masks two years in a row and just impact a fear um or concern for a virus that that would you know create in their minds.
My six-year-old, I was reading them a book the other day and it's an English and Spanish book and the book says the store was closed because of the dia and he says to me oh mom, I know what dia means, it means "virus" and I said no baby, dia means "day"and then I realized oh that he thinks because everything is closed because of the virus and I just really, really--
I believe we're created well. I believe we have the ability to be healthy and grow and that there's different ways to do it besides social distancing and masks and I definitely stand behind that view.
That position sounds very anti-mask--especially against teachers wearing masks. Perhaps Mr. Smith wasn't at the forum.
Here's the video; our embedded clip starts and stops with her answer; click through to YouTube to watch the entire forum:
Some readers have suggested additional anti-mask and anti-vaxx ties, but these particular instances are directly connected to Eigen's campaign for the school board.
In the meantime, we hope that Eigen and her influential father will learn to hone their communication skills.
Screengrab: Maureen Eigen answered these questions during a July 6 forum.
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