The biggest lie has always been to keep quiet; and the best life-enhancer is to provoke, unsettle, rile – in short, to make people face the truth.
Gore Vidal
James Agee Took a Picture of a Bunch of My Georgia Family for Now Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Its Members Will Be Moving to South Tampa Soon from Jeff Davis and Camden Counties into the House next to the One Elia Is Tackying up with a tin roof to the Annoyance of South Tampa neighbors of this Yankee Parvenu School Functionary.
Let's See If Elia Welcomes My James-Agee Kin to the Neighborhood despite their lack of couth. lee
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 9:05 PM
To: tdecesar@tampabay.rr.com
Subject: [Lee Drury De Cesare's Casting-Room Couch] New comment on Social Climbing in South Tampa Takes Savvy That La....
Oh, lordy. Now I have stepped in a cow patty. I need another metaphor. I should have used one from my Georgia beginnings. I lived in an area so far back in the woods they had to pump daylight to us. lee
From: Anonymous [mailto:noreply-comment@blogger.com]
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 6:17 PM
To: tdecesar@tampabay.rr.com
Subject: [Lee Drury De Cesare's Casting-Room Couch] New comment on Checking and Rechecking As New Data Emerge.
I did not read that, but my husband cut out a piece that says that Elia is in a big argument with the South Tampa neighbors about changes she wants to make on her house. A tin roof seems to be in controversy. The Elia tin roof sounds vulgar: just what you expect from a Yankee carpetbagger sans taste and sans social eclat.
The City Council said Eliea could mount the tin roof except for Saul Sena and Mary Mulhearn. Saul Sena is South Tampa Davis Islands and friend of Tom Gonzalez; Mulhearn, I would guess, is South Tampa too. My inference is that the rest of the City Council is not from the social mecca of South Tampa.
Saul Sena is doyenne of preservation and was in conflict with Elia when the latter sold an historic school for peanuts after which the buyer tore it down.
There was much rending of historic-
preservation hair after that escapade in anti-historical barbarian preservation bias on Elia's part. Everybody who had observed La Elia close range knew that she did not give a shit about historic-buildings' preservation. Money is her gig. She just wanted to be school superintendent and get the bloated $300,000 pay download that included $40,000 stolen from the teachers' work with board complicity for teachers' raising student scores.
We are talking shades of aristocricy in South Tampa's social badlands. Aristocracy ranks a big concern in South Tampa since the people there lack any real aristocrats past or present . But that lack does not mean that they dom't set standards for entrees for whom the South Tampa elite manque manufactures. Elia does not meet those standards. She is a Yankee barbarian trying to put a tin roof on her house in South Tampa's holy precincts.
Elia is not South Tampa material. She may be able to buy a house there, thanks to her bloated tax-supplied salary and get legal help to bully through her renovations, but she won't be one of the in-crowd. Not ever. The South Tampa people will consider her vulgar Yankee intruder from here to eternity, never mind that they themselves are three generations away from sharecropping. We are talking social relativism here.
I lived in South Tampa twenty years and pondered its extant folk ways. My intuitioan says that Elia has set herself up to be permanent white trash import that blights the neighborhood. She has played into bigotry's hands.
La Elia is used to getting her way in her small world of the schools. But the people in South Tampa have their own standards and possess a larger canvas. They are not admirable standards, but they think so. And South Tampans follow them. Otherwise, how can anybody get into Ye Mystic Krewe?
The South Tampa indigenous will shut Elia out and make her living in that area most unrewarding. She should have homesteaded in Lutz, where standards are less rigorous amongst the county estates filled with rusting hulks of cars.
If you want to social climb, you have to pay attention to the mores of the group you try to become part of. I never thought Elia was smart; this situation confirms my opinion.
To I'll see if I can get James Agee's photographer to take a picture of Elia's looking out of the second-floor bedroom window of her South Tampa digs with the weird tin roof. That should lift La Elia's spirit but make her a permanant pariah nonetheless for the neighbors.
Linda, I am not clear on the length of Tom Gonzalez's employment with the school board.
I heard 30 years, which apparently was the length of time his predecessor spent on the job; I heard then, I believe you told me, that the board had employed Tom Gonzalez for six years.
But review of the Erwin trial documents revealed that Gonzalez was involved in not only the Whistleblower trial but in also in the preceding measures the administration took in trying to authenticate Mr. Erwin's claims of in-school crime.
Those actions will have been in the early '90s. One such instance was the Erwin investigation Mr. Gonzalez launched and then shut down when the investigators reported that they found chiefly evidence of efforts to discredit Mr. Irwin.
Please revisit this question: what year did Mr. Gonzalez start working for the board?
And although you say he has no contract, he must have some kind of agreement with the board for his employment. I don't think the people who review school accounting for the state would allow a mere oral agreement. There must be something in writing. I would like to see that. ldd
From: Anonymous [mailto:noreply-comment@blogger.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2010 9:02 PM
To: tdecesar@tampabay.rr.com
Subject: [Lee Drury De Cesare's Casting-Room Couch] New comment on Settling in for a Determined Q and A, Prepared To ....
PH.D. in Psychology from the University of RibbetRibbet: HAS STANFORD BINET; WILL TRAVEL
You all will recall the King High Toe Cracker of the administration genus that Gonzalez at first tried to label as free and clear according to the sheriff's department while labeling teacher Steve Kemp as needing more scrutiny. Gonzalez did a hasty redaction to his Professional Standards summary of the cases and zipped it to Ms. Kipley to cover his tracks. I infer that he didn't read the sheriff's summaries. He must have been engaged in moonlighting at USF.
The reporter, Marshall, I think, was diligent and repeated the story when Gonzalez challenged him in lawyerly snoot mode. Gonzalez is an ace at public relations.
Well, I learned that a parent went to the King principal and told him or her that unless the administration had this guy have a psychological test that the parent would sue. That was just what I begged for in a board meeting. Not one board member or Ms. Elia volunteered that there would be a test and that its results would be made known.
So the administration had the Toe Cracker tested by some psychologist. Unnamed. Maybe competent. Maybe a graduate of an online school of Witch Doctory.
The administration did not give the schools or the public the satisfaction of telling what they had got for a psychological test under parental duress.
This is the ROSSAC mode. Hoarding information is guarding power. They don't want to let a morsel of information out of their hands for fear that people will catch on to their shoddy management.
So I am trying to eke out the information of who this guy or gal is who tested the Toe Cracker to check with the state on his or her credentials or the lack of them.
I bet the complaining parent could get these data if he or she put the screws to the administration outback Machiavellis. Meanwhile, I keep throwing darts.
To Linda Cobbe, Community Relations:
What concerns me, Linda, is I fear the school board got a complicit psychologist, not a qualified one. It's the same deal with Mr. Gonzalez. He renders the legal opinions the board wants. Is there any place in the school online material that discusses the qualifications of these psychological consultants, or is it just any witch doctor that will gloss over the problem and provide an official record that he or she has done due diligence? Can you give me the psychologist's name; then I can check credentials. lee
From: Linda Cobbe [mailto:lcobbe@sdhc.us] Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 1:50 PM To: lee decesare Subject: Re: Public Information
Regardless of the evaluator's credentials, it falls under the "medical" heading and is protected by HIPAA. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device ________________________________________ From: "lee decesare" Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:07:05 -0500 To: ; Linda Cobbe Subject: RE: Public Information
It's not a psychiatrist report; it's a psychological report. A psychologist is much less qualified to diagnose pathology than a psychiatrist is. Where in the public-records law does it say that a psychological profile is not public information? lee
From: Linda Cobbe [mailto:lcobbe@sdhc.us] Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 12:38 PM To: lee decesare Subject: Re: Public Information
A psychiatric report would not be a public record. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
________________________________________
From: "lee decesare"
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:46:38 -0500
To: ; Linda Cobbe
Subject: RE: Public Information
Linda, I learned that the administration had the toe-cracker guy see a psychologist for evaluation after a parent complained. I would like to see a copy of that evaluation. It should be part of his employment file and thus part of the public record. ldd
From: Linda Cobbe [mailto:lcobbe@sdhc.us] Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 9:38 AM To: lee decesare Subject: Re: Public Information
If you scroll down, you will find it in the middle of my Monday, January 4, email to you.
Linda E. Cobbe External Communications Manager Hillsborough County Public Schools 901 E. Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33602 813-272-4602 (O) 813-493-6964 (C) 813-272-4510 (F)
Please do not print this message unless it's absolutely necessary.
Our mission is to provide an education that enables each student to excel as a successful and responsible citizen.
"lee decesare" writes: If you did tell me why you did not do salary surveys of board attorneys, I missed it. Please send it again. ldd
From: Linda Cobbe [mailto:lcobbe@sdhc.us] Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 3:00 PM To: lee decesare Subject: Re: Public Information
I will submit your request. I explained in the original response to you that we have not done a salary survey of Florida school board attorneys.
Linda E. Cobbe External Communications Manager Hillsborough County Public Schools 901 E. Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33602 813-272-4602 (O) 813-493-6964 (C) 813-272-4510 (F)
Please do not print this message unless it's absolutely necessary.
Our mission is to provide an education that enables each student to excel as a successful and responsible citizen.
"lee decesare" writes: HE MUST HAVE SOME KIND OF WRITTEN AGREEMENT WITH THE BOARD. I WANT A COPY OF THAT AND WANT TO KNOW IF MR. GONZALEZ HAS DONE A SALARY SURVEY OF FLORIDA BOARD ATTORNEYS. I WOULD APPRECIATE A COPY OF THAT ALSO. LDD
From: Linda Cobbe [mailto:lcobbe@sdhc.us] Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 11:53 AM To: lee decesare Subject: Re: Public Information
I'm not sure I understand your question. Tom Gonzalez doesn't receive a salary. The agreement we have with him is that he is the school board's general counsel and he bills us at a certain hourly rate (I think it's either $100 or $120 per hour). The bill is generated by his law firm, so we pay the firm, not Tom Gonzalez directly.
Linda E. Cobbe External Communications Manager Hillsborough County Public Schools 901 E. Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33602 813-272-4602 (O) 813-493-6964 (C) 813-272-4510 (F)
Please do not print this message unless it's absolutely necessary.
Our mission is to provide an education that enables each student to excel as a successful and responsible citizen.
"lee decesare" writes: dON'T FORGET A TOTAL OF HIS SALARY SINCE HE WORKED THE SIX YEARS FOR THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. wHY IS THE FIRM DUE TAXPAYER MONEY? iT IS NOT PART OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. yOU COULD ASK A SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER TO RQUEST AN OPINION OF THE AG ON THE SUBJECT. I THINK lAMB WOULD BE THE MOST LIKELY BOARD MEMBER TO REQUEST ONE. I DON'T THINK YOUR NEED FOR CLARITY NEEDS ANY APOLOGY TO A BOARD MEMBER WHO CAN GET THE OFFICIAL INTERPRETATION FROM THE AG.LDD
From: Linda Cobbe [mailto:lcobbe@sdhc.us] Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 10:06 AM To: lee decesare Subject: Re: Public Information
I will get you an estimate.
Linda E. Cobbe External Communications Manager Hillsborough County Public Schools 901 E. Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33602 813-272-4602 (O) 813-493-6964 (C) 813-272-4510 (F)
Please do not print this message unless it's absolutely necessary.
Our mission is to provide an education that enables each student to excel as a successful and responsible citizen.
"lee decesare" writes: What is your estimate of what finding out how much the taxpayers have paid Mr. Gonzalez during his tenure? And has Mr. Sanchez done any salary studies for school board attorneys? If so I want to see them. If not, I want his assertion that he has done no such studies. I am encouraged that people ask for public information. It's a good sign that they do for democracy. ldd
From: Linda Cobbe [mailto:lcobbe@sdhc.us] Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 5:22 PM To: lee decesare Subject: Re: Public Information
Lee -
You probably would have to pay to receive six years of payments to the firm. The law is not clear on this, so we go by guidelines in the Government-In-The-Sunshine Manual, which I believe is written by the office of the attorney general and published by the First Amendment Foundation. The formula we use is the hourly rate of the lowest paid person capable of performing the work times the amount of time it takes to complete the request. So, if it requires technical knowledge that a clerk or secretary would not have, you would be charged the actual hourly rate of the person who performs the work. If it requires only the redaction of exempt information and time spent copying, you would be charged the lower rate.
Since our school board counsel does not receive a salary, we have not done a salary survey.
As far as the volume of public records requests we receive, you have underestimated. We receive about one request for public records per day. We don't hire additional staff to process the requests; existing staff has to drop what they're doing and complete the request in a reasonable amount of time. Consequently, people usually groan when they hear my voice on the other end of the telephone line.
Linda E. Cobbe External Communications Manager Hillsborough County Public Schools 901 E. Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33602 813-272-4602 (O) 813-493-6964 (C) 813-272-4510 (F)
Please do not print this message unless it's absolutely necessary.
Our mission is to provide an education that enables each student to excel as a successful and responsible citizen.
"lee decesare" writes: Linda, the cost of researching the total for Tom Gonzalez's firm's defense of the pay-off for the Erwin case will be about $63, right? If so, go ahead. I am good for that. Be sure to include all the names of the attorneys involved in the defense of the case.
Surely I don't have to pay for an accounting of the six years' that Gonzalez's salary totals. . I am a poor retired teacher on a pension. The schools should cut some slack for retired teachers.
I want to see that formula y'all use for such requests as my request for the trial total. I also would like to have as public information any salary surveys for board attorneys that Mr. Gonzalez has conducted during the time of the Gonzalez hegemony. If the Personnel Director is worth his bloated salary, he will have conducted these surveys just in case the superintendent or board members were alert enough to ask for them. I learned of the personnel director's duties when my old man did that job for a while for an international corporation to feed and clothe our four children.
I am considering doing a booklet on how to search for information from public institutions in Florida and selling it on the Web for $1.99. People need the benefit of a veteran in this field comme moi, and the Public Affairs Office of the Hillsborough County Schools will get its space big-time.
The first time I asked for public information Marc Hart was at the head job in your area. He was surprised, indignant, and snotty. I don't think many people ask for public information, alas. If they did, you would need assistants or maybe even a separate office with you as head. You could say you owe your elevation all to me. That would make you a popular and admired administrator among the ROSSAC indigenous tribe.
Mark Hart is now a friend. I heard from him recently. I am rooting for him to get a job that helps him assist his former wife to support his two children. The local employment community blackballed him, of course. I have learned that Pole Girl Falliero was not the actuating but a contributing cause of his divorce. Her affair caused her own divorce, however; and she was stupid enough to waive child support for her two girls for the pledge of his not revealing the cause of the divorce. Anybody that dumb and that careless of her children's wellbeing should not serve on the school board; we need better brains there than such behavior signals.
I changed the data about Falliero's lesser responsibility for the Hart divorce on my Web site. I don't think it will make people like her any better, however. And she retains her earned title of Pole Girl.
Thanks.
lee
6
From: Linda Cobbe [mailto:lcobbe@sdhc.us] Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 9:05 AM To: lee decesare Subject: Re: Public Information
Lee - I pasted below a series of emails related to your May 2008 request for the Thompson Sizemore & Gonzalez fees related to the Erwin case. The response immediately below is your final response, so we did not provide you with how much his firm charged for defending against the Erwin case. The amount of research and the cost to do that research remains about the same. Is your response the same?
Linda Cobbe
No, of course not. Tom Gonzalez said he would send you some figures. Let’s see what his comment yields. lee
From: Linda Cobbe [mailto:lcobbe@sdhc.us] Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 3:32 PM To: lee de cesare Cc: Stephen Hegarty; Ken Otero Subject: Re:
Staff in the budget division have begun researching the attorneys' fees for the Doug Erwin case. Before they take any more time, I need to know if you are willing to pay for the staff time this is taking. We estimate it will be a total of about three hours, at an hourly rate of approximately $21. Do you want them to proceed?
Linda Cobbe Office of Communications Hillsborough County Public Schools 901 E. Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33602 813-272-4602 813-272-4510 FAX 813-493-6964 CELL www.sdhc.k12.fl.us
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications (including e-mail) to or from public employees are public records available to anyone who asks. Your e-mail communications and your e-mail address may therefore be subject to public disclosure.
"lee de cesare" writes: Linda, tell Tom Gonzalez my response to his most recent Fed-x’d letter is on my blog. The big baby has put a block-sender on me so that I can not email him directly. Thank you. lee
Linda E. Cobbe External Communications Manager Hillsborough County Public Schools 901 E. Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33602 813-272-4602 (O) 813-493-6964 (C) 813-272-4510 (F)
Please do not print this message unless it's absolutely necessary.
Our mission is to provide an education that enables each student to excel as a successful and responsible citizen.
"lee de cesare" writes: No. I got the pay of $275,000 for one year for him; but I don't have either of the other figures. I have always wondered how much it cost taxpayers to defend against the Erwin Whistleblower case.
I have asked the Pinellas SB for its lawyer's salary and contract if he has one. lee
From: Linda Cobbe [mailto:lcobbe@sdhc.us] Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 11:55 PM To: lee de cesare Subject: Re: Public Information
I'm pretty sure you have all of these records already. We're closed until Monday. LC Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
________________________________________
From: "lee de cesare"
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:47:02 -0500
To: ; Linda Cobbe
Cc:
Subject: Public Information
Ms. Cobbe: I would like the total tax dollars spent to pay Tom Gonzalez's firm to defend the board against the whistle blower case of Doug Erwin.
I would also like a yearly salary paid in tax funds to Mr. Gonzalez for his being board attorney.
Council of Trent Gathers to Declare Nick, Hillsborough County Executive Director of CTA, a Horse's Patootie in the Diplomacy Department
Let me get this straight, Nick: you maintain that you sit on your CTA executive director perquisites and don't scan ROSSAC's heavens for things extant or looming that affect teachers?
What do you do with your time: lob spitballs into your trash can?
One issue that cries out for union attention is board denial of the 669 bullying law's protection TO teachers.
Attorney Gonzalez HAS INSISTED ON teacher exclusion FROM HB 669'S BULLYING LAW'S PROTECTION. HE SAID SO from the podium. His job is to twist law to coincide with board's and administration's weird ideas of managing the schools.
Your supine Acquiescence bespeaks lamentable absence of CTA director curiosity and vigilance.
I thought Ms. Clements was bad; but you promise to be worse.Not only do you not bestir yourself to anticipate and fend off evils for teachers; you AS WELL wax arrogant and condescending when one brings a problem to you as teacher Bart Birdsall did.
Teachers pay your salary, Nick, FROM THEIR MEAGRE SALARIES.That fact should ensure basic courtesy from your office TO A TEACHER such as Bart Birdsall.
A leader thinks, then acts.He does not lapse into pondering as seems your mode.
Since you tout your academic bonafides, pray allow comment: "Bachelor's Degree" is lower-cased in Standard English. Don't add "from a Bachelor's Degree [sic] program." Teachers and even NASCAR fans know that laudes come in undergraduate degrees only.
What's more, a fellow with a "full and effective" command of the English language" would show punctilio about subjunctive mood in the construction "if there is [sic] information."
As a summa marvel, your EGO VIGILANCE should care about style and clarity as well.
Bad, bloated sentence:
"Since the issue he wanted clarified involved the interpretation of two pieces of information that he claimed to possess, it did not appear that it would be necessary to request information from any source other than
the member."
This 49-word monster is not so muchsentence asbolus.Two "it's" make your readers cross their eyes. A savvy writer with or without summa cum laudepuffery and with or without an "I Are Smart" designer sweat shirt from Wisconsin or Saskatchewan Agricultural University and Beauty School would write better.
Edit: "The member had the needed information. I inferred he required no more."
See me in my office after class, Nick.Bring your grammar primer.
Paxvobiscum,
lee drurydecesare
former CTA president, language maven, and supreme producer of pots and pots chicken and dumplings, reflecting a skill for which all us Southern girls have summa cum laudes
From: William Birdsall [mailto:Montolino@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, February 22, 2010 9:22 AM
To: lee de cesare
Subject: Fwd: Bullying Law
A CTA member named Bart Birdsall indicates that he has been discussing Florida’s anti-bullying statute with you. Mr. Birdsall indicates that you and FEA’s legal counsel agree with his interpretation of the law . . . that it applies equally to employees and students.
Attached below is a legal explanation/interpretation from the attorney that represents the Hillsborough School District, Tom Gonzalez. I hope that you will ask FEA legal counsel to review what Mr. Gonzalez has written and to verify that a difference in legal interpretation actually exists. Any assistance you could provide in obtaining the legal review would be greatly appreciated.
Nick, I have been given a copy of Mr. Birdsall’s email to the School Board in which he writes of your desire to “figure out why there is a discrepancy in FEA’s opinion” and mine regarding the Florida bullying law. Here’s my explanation.
As Mr. Birdsall notes, at a School Board meeting a Board member asked me whether the bullying law, Fla. Stat. §1006.147, included employees in the definition of bullying. I replied that it does not. That law is entitled the “Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for AllStudentsAct.” It prohibits bullying, which expressly is defined in §1006.147(3)(a) in this way: “Bullying means systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on one or morestudents. . . .” The law provides 10 specific examples of behavior which can constitute bullying. Of course, bullying is a concept that is well known and widely used in the context of education and in reference to students. It is a different concept than “harassment,” which also has an established and widely used definition, primarily in the context of employment but also in connection with the protection of civil rights (as in Titles VI and IX). Section 1006.147 treats harassment. It is defined for purposes of the statute, in §1006.147(3)(b), as “threatening, insulting or demeaning, or dehumanizing gestures . . . directed against astudent or school employee.” Thus the law does in fact include employees in its protection but uses the term harassment, not bullying. “Bullying” is defined in the law only with reference to students. Section 1006.147(3)(d) includes in the definitions of “‘bullying’ and ‘harassment’” the perpetuation of conduct listed in the cited definitions of bullying and harassment when the conduct is motivated by a certain intent, but that last cited part of the law does not change the definition of bullying as applying to students or the definition of harassment as applying to students and employees. I therefore stand by my legal opinion about the law. That opinion was reflected in my letter written to Ms. DeCesare, to which Mr. Birdsall refers, which responded to an issue she raised with Senator Storms regarding thestatute. The law protects students against bullying and harassment. It protects employees against harassment.
The State DOE, pursuant to the statute’s mandate, promulgated a model rule which all school boards were required to adopt. The DOE’s website, in the section produced by the Office of Safe Schools, defines “Bullying/Harassment” as behavior which “causes discomfort or unreasonably [interferes] with the individual’sschool performance or participation.” The use of the highlighted words is consistent with a law which focuses on the issue of students. But the DOE’s model policy does not comport with that definition. Instead, it rewrites the definition of bullying by adding the words “or employees” to the statutory definition from which I quote above. And it prohibits that conduct by any “adult or student.” It is my legal opinion that this modification is inconsistent with the law and will cause confusion. But it is also my opinion that the DOE has the legal authority to require the use of that definition. The School Board therefore has adopted the DOE policy and enforces it. The Boardpolicyincludes employees within the protection of bullying even though thestatutedoes not. The contention that the Board has excluded employees from protection against bullying is simply wrong. The statute did. And the Board’s policies prohibited harassment of employees long before the law or the DOE required that protection.
I hope this clears up the misunderstanding. If you need additional information, please call me. If the FEA counsel believes the statutory definitions are not written as I have described above please let me know.
In closing let me note that as the DOE/Board policy has been adopted, it applies to conduct committed by members of the public and even by Board employees when speaking or acting in their off-duty capacity. Much of what is contained in certain blogs and directed against School Board employees includes “insults” and “teasing” and in some cases a clear intent to “publicly humiliate.” In fact, the statement to which Mr. Birdsall refers as having been my motivation for not responding to his communications went far beyond calling another person “ugly.” Had it been directed against a Board employee after the effective date of the Board’s policy (as opposed to the statute), it would have constituted bullying, as do any number of references currently made about the Board’s employees in these blogs and other public fora.
Lee has had a back and forth with Tom Gonzalez about the bullying law. She has posted the law to her blog where it includes employees throughout the law. Gonzalez said it does not cover employees at a school board meeting. He has also written a letter to Lee saying it does not cover employees in Hillsborough.
I asked Andy Ford (FEA President) about the bullying law. He spoke with FEA counsel, and FEA counsel told him it does indeed cover employees. He also told me I should talk to HCTA about this. So I contacted Nick Whitman, and he would like to figure out why there is a discrepancy in FEA's opinion and Tom Gonzalez's opinion. He asked me for a copy of the letter Tom Gonzalez wrote to Lee. I have emailed Lee to ask her to fax it to Nick Whitman, and I have also emailed Tom Gonzalez asking him to send the letter to Nick Whitman, but I may be on block sender. Ever since I referred to a friend of his as an ugly person (she slammed the door in my face for having the nerve to run for school board), he had a tantrum and refused to respond to any email after that. That was years ago, and I could care less if he responds, since I have a low opinion of him and his abilities as a lawyer, but he should at least send this letter to Nick Whitman. Will you make sure Tom Gonzalez provides Nick Whitman with a copy of this letter, since Lee's computer gets messed up so often?
It is important to clear up any misunderstandings about this matter. If Lee, FEA, and I are wrong, we need to know. If Tom Gonzalez is wrong, he needs to know. If by some strange hocus pocus both FEA and Tom Gonzalez's differing views on the bullying law fit together, we need to know that also.
Please ask Tom Gonzalez to fax a copy of his letter (that he sent to Lee) to Nick Whitman of HCTA.
Sincerely,
Bart Birdsall
-----Original Message-----
From: William Birdsall [mailto:montolino@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, February 22, 2010 9:15 AM
To: Whitman, Nick
Cc: lee de cesare; susan.valdes@sdhc.k12.fl.us; doretha.edgecomb@sdhc.k12.fl.us; jennifer.faliero@sdhc.k12.fl.us; april.griffin@sdhc.k12.fl.us; carol.kurdell@sdhc.k12.fl.us; jack.lamb@sdhc.k12.fl.us; candy.olson@sdhc.k12.fl.us; Thomas Marshall; Clements, Jean
Subject: Re: Bullying Law
On Feb 22, 2010, at 8:54 AM, Whitman, Nick wrote:
>For the record, to this date, that is the only request for
> information that I have made on behalf of myself or HCTA.
The way I read your email is that you are acting like my desire to get you the information that you requested from me faster (rather than later) is a bad thing. I believe in open government and open everything. Since I have had trouble with Tom Gonzalez giving me things I ask for and waiting for 2 years to get things I ask him for, and since Lee sometimes can not get her computer to work, the one piece of information you asked for might not have gotten to you quickly, so I asked everyone to get Tom Gonzalez to get it to you. What's wrong with that? What is the problem here? I don't understand.
