[Vision2020] tonight's school board meeting

Tue Jul 24 19:51:27 PDT 2007

Bill London writes,

  "It sure looks to me like Harter and all  are offering extortion, not concilation.
  Like some kind of bizarre coup d'etat, a tiny group of grumpy guys decide to sue the school district -- and then offer to drop the suit IF the school district will agree to binding arbitration. . ." 

  As opposed to the grumpy old paleo hippies that see no wrong could ever come from the MSD. Many respectable community members would very much like to see a peaceful solution to this problem. But unfortunately, due to false pride, the MSD would rather lose a huge portion of its funding than admit it could have ever made a mistake. The vanity of MSD will be its downfall. 

  Best,

  Donovan

Bill London <london at moscow.com> wrote:
    P {   PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px  }  BODY {   FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma  }        Thanks Keely for your cogent analysis of the district suit situation.
  It sure looks to me like Harter and all  are offering extortion, not concilation.
  Like some kind of bizarre coup d'etat, a tiny group of grumpy guys decide to sue the school district -- and then offer to drop the suit IF the school district will agree to binding arbitration -- which is a guaranteed win for them, and a huge affront to the democratic process that decided the fate of the original levy.
  BL
    ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: keely emerinemix 
  To: vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 1:25 PM
  Subject: [Vision2020] tonight's school board meeting

Visionaires,

It looks to me that the school board meeting tonight will feature Don Harter and his plea for a "conciliatory" resolution to the Weitz lawsuit challenging the validity of the recent supplemental levy increase.  Undoubtedly it will feature further discussion of the issues Harter will raise.  Board Chair Dawn Fazio's statement in the Daily News yesterday made sense, insofar as it outlined the board's willingness to let Harter speak -- as it allows and encourages all stakeholders to air concerns during the meetings -- and yet made it clear that the Board has no intention, even if it could, of overthrowing the will of those voters who, by majority, voted for the increase.

I'm heartened that the trustees took steps to frame the debate in clear, concise, and correct terms; I've often been critical of MSD for responding slowly or not at all when its integrity is challenged, particularly when the challenge has been based not only on anti-public schools vitriol but misleading, incorrect information.  My hope is that the board continue to state what Fazio said yesterday and what Dr. Donicht has previously said.  Those points are simple, and I hope that they are clearly repeated by the trustees tonight.  

Here's what I hope the board offers prior to and after Harter's comments:

1.  The district  did not initiate the litigation it is now involved in; a disgruntled patron did.  Now it's in the court system -- there's no backing out for either the defendant or the plaintiff.  Once the suit is filed and finds a hearing, not even the most disingenuously worded petition can act as an "oops" sufficient to relieve the plaintiff of the responsibility for what he has begun.

2.  The district believes it has acted in accord with state law in running the levy.  Weitz, et al, believe it didn't.  The judge gets to decide who's right.

3.  A petition asking that the district remove itself from litigation not of its own initiative in order to offer or accept an olive branch by way of re-running the levy election is not only  unfair but impossible -- and asks the district to deny the will of the voters who approved the increase.  It's not only a legal impossibility, but sets a terrible precedent:  that election results can be overthrown under the guise of "conciliation."   Nice words don't make for good policy, and the Board needs to make that clear.

There's no need tonight to argue the merits of the case, a case I believe MSD will win.  But Harter should realize, and the community should know, that while MSD is accommodating his desire to speak tonight, it's because MSD allows and encourages all community members to do so -- not because Harter's offer of "conciliation" merits serious consideration.  A "make nice" petition sounds like a great exercise in bringing together a community stung by one man's crusade to hamstring it.  But Harter's request isn't an olive branch at all, just an attempt to ease the consequences felt by Weitz and make MSD's enemies look like its saviors.  Government by  petition isn't effective.  In this case, it's not even possible.  Because even if a petition could end the standoff and honor the law, the electorate, and the kids, such a thing -- setting aside the will of the voters -- would be an act of monumental ill will.  The lack of goodwill here is not MSD's fault.  Neither is the
 discomfort felt by Dr. Weitz as he realizes the depth of the community's displeasure with him.

I obviously chose to be a more "activist" trustee than the current trustees have, but I hope that on this, we agree that a firm, fair telling of the facts is imperative -- and not just tonight.  Harter may choose to bring the circus into town, but the Board can respect his rights as a citizen without jumping through the hoops he's set out for them.

keely

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