Rival Candidates Jointly Repudiate Questions of Religious Beliefs

Candidates for election to the Cleveland Heights School Board united this week in a joint declaration repudiating questions of religious beliefs of the candidates and their supporters as issues in the election. The move was taken in an effort to prevent duplication of the bitter whispering campaign in 1949 involving charges of anti-Semitism, radicalism, communism and reaction.

In their statement, which was endorsed by the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Community Council, the four candidates said: “We have been disturbed by reports that issues in no way related to our election have been irresponsibly injected into the campaign. It is an irresponsible disservice to the community in this campaign for anyone to raise questions concerning the religious beliefs or attitudes or the integrity or patriotism of the candidates, or the religious beliefs or patriotism of their supporters.”