Saturday, November 25, 2006

R-BB School Board Member's Actions are Embarrassing

I couldn’t help but notice that the townies on the Richland Bean Blossom School Board were up to their old tricks as they provided plenty of negative fodder for articles in Herald Times and The Journal. This post election rebuking by Janice Stockton is in retaliation for election of two qualified individuals to the local school board thus denying Mrs. Stockton and Mr. Thrasher the critical mass required to return the school system to the dark ages. Stockton’s remarks at last weeks school board meeting were proof positive she has no intention of cooperating with other board members to find common ground as she has fully alienated the rest of the board and the superintendent. Stockton and Thrasher are throw backs to an era that many in the R-BB school system have run, not walked, away from. They want to return the school system to a time when school board members roamed the dilapidated hallways and micromanaged the day-to-day operation of the corporation. Where teachers and staff made alliances with board members to protect their jobs and where nepotism ran rampant.

Larry Thrasher the former pool janitor was elected in ’02 and Janice Stockton a former elementary teacher with the school system was elected in ’04. They both ran on a low key agenda to get elected however once elected it was quickly evident they were not as interested in educational improvement as they were in having a controlling interest in the day-to-day operations of the school system. It was widely known that Thrasher was no fan of Brad Tucker the former Principal at the High School and this was most certainly a contributing factor to his early departure. Thrasher and Stockton reverted back to habits of previous boards when board members routinely overstepped their roles and responsibilities by meeting with staff, parents and groups outside of their official authority of the collective school board. Evidently their activities have managed to fan the flames with the contract bus drivers, an already volatile situation. Repeatedly the superintendent has reminded them that individually board members have absolutely no authority but this hasn’t curtailed their activities. Board members are also entrusted with information that needs to be held in strict confidence especially when it comes to matters of personnel, reportedly this trust has been breached by these two on a routine basis.

In the comment portion of the meeting Stockton made several unsubstantiated accusations and offered up a lot of innuendo that indicated a very negative overall mood and general working conditions within the school corporation. By highlighting certain policies and guidelines she was somehow attempting to validate her authority all the while refusing to support a board member code of ethics that Superintendent Edington had suggested just a few weeks earlier. As she spewed her venom the superintendent and other board members were obviously caught off guard by her accusations, all except Larry Thrasher that is, earlier he had deferred his comments to Mrs. Stockton by saying she had enough to say for both of them. What Stockton’s tirade was really about is she now finds herself all alone with the ouster of Larry Thrasher. She doesn’t have anyone on the Board she can manipulate and consort with. The old townies worked very hard to take control of the school system with this election and fortunately they failed. Stockton was obviously so upset with the outcome of the election that she couldn’t restrain herself from venting and letting her true colors show through. The old townies would have liked nothing more than to chase off another superintendent and throw the school system in complete chaos. Thank goodness the voters reversed the trend toward reverting to a bygone era by returning Randy Wright and electing Dana Kerr to the R-BB Board. However, they will all have to tread lightly as it is obvious there is still one snake in the grass.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Animals Have Taken Control of the Zoo

The platform the Democrats used in the’06 election was one based on breaking up the Republican stronghold on the State and Federal government. This message was obliviously well received as the majority of voters agreed that one political party shouldn’t have unchecked control. They agreed that a system of checks and balances should be in place that would prevent unbridled power and greed. That message rang true, everywhere but in Monroe County that is. What the voters in Monroe County have failed to realize is they have now relinquished total control of both the City and County offices to one party. Once again and similarly to the ’04 election many lesser-qualified candidates were swept into office by the shear fact they were on the Democrat ticket. After being on a mission to obliterate the control of Republican Party on a state and national level what can we expect now that one party has total control of our local government? Is it somehow better because it is the Democrats in control, I think not? At least before there was somewhat of a check and balance in place when at the County Council and Commissioners we’re in the hands of opposing parties. Now this avant-garde attitude will permeate throughout both the City and County virtually unchecked. Furthermore if the Auditor’s office is any indication of what we have to look forward to the future looks pretty bleak!

What is disturbing is voters ignored the conflict of interest in electing someone like Charles Newman to the County Council, an office that is part of a checks and balances to Auditor’s office where his wife’s performance has certainly been less than acceptable. Another conflict that emerges out of this election is Pat Stoffers being elected to the Commissioners office. Stoffers is employed by the City Utilities, the Commissioners have to interact, coexist and represent the County’s interest on the Utilities Services Board, obviously a position that will be difficult for him to remain unbiased. Electing a Prosecutor that has never worked in a prosecutor’s office or for that matter ever tried a criminal case. How is this even possible? Is this really what people want? Good people that have maintained the integrity of our County government for years now are without a say, they have been silenced by a mandate that is at odds with issues far beyond our County. We can now look forward to more buffoons wearing chicken outfits to meetings and making a mockery of the serious business of running our lives and livelihoods. We can look forward to more proclamations against world events that are occurring on the other side of the globe all the while affairs right here in our own backyard go unheeded.

Yes, the animals have taken control of the zoo and what is a person with a conscious and morality supposed to do? Republicans really have no one to blame but themselves. Why do Democrats keep getting elected I ask, because Democrat’s get elected and then take steps to load the system with more Democrats? They develop commissions and advisory boards that are made up of more Democrats and before you know it they have a huge machine in place that is dependant and feeding from the same trough. They help each other out during the election by supporting other Democrats. They actually have a unified agenda and they all manage to play from the same playbook. They’re not afraid to take positions on issues that oppose their own agenda. They are not afraid to play dirty all the while calling to question every one else’s ethics. During the election process Democrats don’t fight amongst themselves in public. Their party and elected leaders all help each other out, they stump for each other and they’re not afraid to be seen in public with each other. Democrats have learned that you can over promise and under deliver and nobody really notices where Republicans typically come from businesses where results matter. Democrats are used to working for a cause where Republicans seemingly always want something other than a job in return. Most Republicans don’t like to get their hands dirty with grunt work and would rather hire out the manual labor or write a check instead of getting involved and rolling up their sleeves. Republicans like to make other Republicans look bad and in doing so somehow believe that makes them look better. Republicans always seem to be running their campaigns alone when most Democrats are part of a collective effort. Democrats usually don’t have to worry about taking out their opposition because Republicans at all levels typically shoot each other in the foot whenever possible. I could go on but I think you get the idea. There is a place for the two party system, if only the local voters would recognize it.