One of the best things about living in a democracy is that you can pull up to a CRT screen and write to any public servant that pops into your mind.I got an Attorney General's opinion once during the early Women's Movement when we were fighting for the ERA. I can't recall what it was about or what his name was except Bob.
One of the most endearing things about the Women's Movement for me was at the beginning before things went bureaucratic and no fun any more, we used to get up in the morning and think up something outre to do that day. We'd call press conferences at the drop of a hat.
It was one of those dicey days when I wrote my first request for an opinion to an attorney general. I think he answered and delivered an opinion because he thought that I was the key to the feminists' vote. Maybe I was--all six of us. lee
Office of Attorney General Jim McCullom
State of Florida
The Capitol PL-01
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
5/6/2009
Dear General McCullom:
Below is an excerpt from May 1’s La Gaceta Publisher Patrick Manteiga’s column “As We Heard It.”
It presents a needed reminder of the blanket secrecy of the Hillsborough County School Board agendas that evades transparency in government. The practice of the board and administration is to decide most things behind closed doors; then everything rolls by on the Consent Agenda. This process cuts out discussion of the issues and deprives citizens the information that they need to decide what their opinion is on any given issue.
The governor has recently given a strong endorsement of open government. One hopes you have the same enthusiasm for the sunshine that government needs to make citizens aware of what's going on in the deliberations of their elected officials so that they can comment if they want to.
I have observed the school board meetings over a two-year period. I doubt that any of the elected board members have the inclination or the nerve to bring up this issue that Mr. Manteiga cites so that the public can witness the discussion of public business.
The only time I have seen a board member ask for an item to be pulled from the agenda was when Board Member April Griffin requested for an item dealing with no-bid contracts to be pulled for discussion. Ms. Griffin is the newest of the board members. Instantly, veteran Board Members Carol Kurdell and Candy Olson laced into Ms. Griffin for her parliamentary move, calling her “disloyal to the staff." The staff decision was that a previous administrator get the contract with no competition. My inference is that Ms. Elia told them whom to choose.
That was the only time I have seen Ms. Griffin ask for an agenda item to be pulled for discussion. My guess is that she wants to avoid more vitriol of the sort that the two board members exposed her to.
Ms. Kurdell and Ms. Olson are long-time board members: their tenure reaches back to when the infamous case of Mr. Sam Erwin was litigated. I am sure you recall it. He had discovered bid-rigging, shoddy school construction, and outright theft in the schools and administration and begged the board and Dr. Lennard to investigate and deal with the problem.
Instead, Dr. Lennard and his administration tried to convince people that Mr. Erwin was deranged and not to be heeded. Dr. Lennard was on track to fire him without his pension when Mr. Erwin sued the board under the Whistleblower law, won, and the taxpayers paid him $165,000 settlement for the board and administration’s dereliction. No board members had intervened to follow up on Mr. Erwin’s disclosures, and Ms. Candy Olson was particularly harsh to him, demanding that Mr. Erwin prove his charges. The board fired not a single person after the trial exposed what really went on that confirmed Mr. Erwin's reports of crime and the board and administration's efforts to shut him up.
Perhaps if the board and administration had discussed this issue in board meetings so that the public could have known what was going on, the situation would have had a better outcome.
I make a citizen’s request to you, sir, to issue an opinion on the issue that Mr. Manteiga cites below: secrecy about principal nominees. I ask that you find that it will be in the community’s best interest and in the interest of open government to issue the principal candidates' names on the board's Web site and the name of the person whom Superintendent Elia chooses as soon as she makes the decision.
All the names should appear on the board's Web agenda as soon as possible so that citizens have a chance to review the candidates and comment if they want to.
Respectfully,
Lee Drury De Cesare
15316 Gulf Boulevard 802
Madeira Beach, FL 33708
From La Gaceta, May 1.
The Hillsborough County School Board should move the business of appointing principals out of the shadows and into the sunshine. The current system of appointment hides the names of those who are up for board confirmation from the public. The names are not released when the superintendent makes her choice, nor are they included on the board agenda. The system is designed to keep parents, peers and students from showing up at school board meetings in opposition to any appointment. The muckety mucks at the district don’t want any such embarrassing public displays at their well rehearsed public meetings.
Parents and teachers who would oppose such appointments obviously don’t understand that the superintendent or believe their concerns have any validity.
We want a more open system. Please put the names out there for public scrutiny,
1 comment:
Why have a board meeting at all if the decisions have already been made? They are already closing out the public, so why make a pretense of involving the public with a board meeting? These board members are so criminal that they should simply meet in private and break the Sunshine laws (which they already do) and hold their meetings in secrecy. At least they would be more honest. As it stands now they are not only criminal but liars and frauds too.
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