By Michael Bryan
I think I can safely speak for the entire staff and readership of BlogForArizona when I say "Thank you!" to David Safier for his last 6 years of hard work, and the fun and satisfaction we have all derived from David's efforts. We are all looking forward to his continuing contributions to public discourse with his new and larger platform at Tucson Weekly's The Range.
Speaking just for myself now, I want to acknowledge David's contributions and praise him mercilessly. I am gratified and excited by David's new project and I think Jim Nintzel incredibly wise to have sought out David to add some punch to the Weekly's blog.
When I first met David during the election integrity trial of 2007, and invited him to co-live-blog the event, little did I know what an ideal partner and collaborator he would become. At that point, BlogForArizona was still just my own private obsession. David changed that for the better by making BlogForArizona his own obsession – and we are all better for it. David deserves a great deal of the credit for the successful transformation of this blog into a group project over the past several years.
David has brought his intelligence and wit to bear on a project that too few of us undertake, and less of us succeed at: public citizenship. David has become one of Arizona's most vocal and eloquent public citizens. It has been one of my chief satisfactions in founding and running BlogForArizona that it has become a platform for David, and the other excellent public citizens who collaborate on BlogForArizona, to answer that vital calling.
David has cultivated his entrepreneurial energy, his deep love of public policy, his concern and compassion for our childrens' futures, and his engaging and interesting authorial voice, to create a public personae that will deservedly continue to grow in influence and authority. Through his selfless efforts and energy David been a tireless advocate and resource for Arizona's citizens. He has become a regular guest on Buckmaster's Blogger Beat, a regular contributor to the Explorer's op-ed pages, and more recently, a frequent contributor to the Tucson Weekly's opinion page, all while blogging regularly and engagingly here on BlogForArizona.
Most impressively, David has accomplished all that not by being a bomb-throwing, divisive gadfly, but by being a well informed, fair, and thoughtful citizen seeking to share his concerns and insights with the public. David is role model and exemplar of how the internet has empowered citizens to take an active role in making their communities better.
BlogForArizona is poorer for David's departure, but Arizona is better off because more people will be able to engage with this extraordinary citizen's work.
If you haven't yet done so, please share in the comments your thoughts and well-wishes for David as he moves on to his next project.
Finally. Long past time IMO.
Thane Eichenauer
Thanks to David for the great support with my relentless pursuit of daily physical activity for the children of Arizona!!
Thank you David! Your commitment toward educating the public about the charter school movement and public education in Arizona has been critically important in the absence of a media willing to do the same.
I echo Michael Bryan’s comment about your fair and thoughtful approach coming through in each of your posts; it is clear to me that you take your role as public advocate as seriously and passionately as you did when educating much younger students. No one can doubt that those young people are always foremost in your thoughts.
Enjoy your new adventure!
David,
That is a lot of writing, way more than expected from a retired English teacher. All the best as you begin with the new blog.
Thanks for the comments, all. Great sendoff. 3,000 posts, eh, Mike? You say 6 years? That’s about 500 a year. Who knew there was so much to write about? (Some could question if there actually was that much to write about.)
Yes, thank you, David. You often spoke truth to power. And Mike did you put “gadfly” in there as a dig to Mike Petrilli? LOL, if so.
Here’s one for the road, David.
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/10/the_truth_about_charter_schools_padded_cells_corruption_lousy_instruction_and_worse_results/
David wrote over 3000 posts in his time at this blog.
Thank you for saying so perfectly what many of us here feel about David, Michael. He always was thoughtful, fair and passionate about his posts regarding education and I will miss him as a regular contributor here. When I was having trouble posting to the blog,he encouraged me to email him if there was anything that wished to see addressed here, or had a comment that he allowed me to share with him. I will always be grateful for that.
Good luck on your new journey, David…you will be missed.
“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.”
― Martin Luther
Michael, yes, you certainly speak for the whole staff. It’s been an honor to call David a colleague over the past two years.
Suggestion: if you’ve not done so already, Michael, let’s leave this post in the first position for a day or two. It seems we ought to make sure all of our regular viewers have a chance to read this post.
Lastly, I wonder if Thucky will continue to haunt David’s posts at The Range. I guess time will tell.
Well said Michael and good luck to David, whom I just ran into at 2nd Saturday Downtown. In 6 years how many blog posts did David publish? Just curious.