My Side of the Fence

The danger isn't going too far. It's that we don't go far enough.

Some School Board Baseball

Looks like the School Board is having themselves some fun with the appointment process!  Glad to see that there were, what, 9 people that applied?  That's a good number.  A couple of those folks called to ask me to have a chat and I was happy to do that.  I think that 1 or 2 of those folks could be future leaders for our City!  I've been through the appointment process twice and it was a lot of work.

However, based on the number of Facebook screenshots that have been forwarded to me some number of people seem not to appreciate the process.  Some folks, including members of Council, have had some pretty critical things to say about the schools in general and the nomination process in particular.  That is, of course, their right and I understand that there are those that have little use for the schools and believe them to be an exercise in futility.  However, not everyone believes that and I'd be pretty careful when making accusations about some part of the process being illegal.  That is much more than a policy difference.

As I understand it, one of the issues is that the interviews are not televised.  I'm with those that would prefer that the interviews be televised but that isn't in the cards and I can live with it.  The interview meetings are public meetings and the public is invited.  Could the School Board put web cams in their conference room to stream each meeting up there?  Sure, but so could the City Council in their second floor conference room.  The place where most of the hard policy debates take place is in that second floor conference room.  It wouldn't even cost the citizens any money for the Council to televise their meetings on the second floor.  There's a thing called the "PEG Fund" that is funded by payments from Comcast and Verizon.  I tried to get the Council to use that money to televise our meetings in the conference room and got exactly zero interest.  So, no, they don't need to be televised.  Would it be nice?  Sure.  However, it is a public meeting.  If you're that interested, stop bellyaching and drag your butt over there.

The other thing I'm reading is that some part of the closed meeting portion of the appointment process is somehow illegal.  That would be true if 1 of 2 things happened: there was a ballot taken in the closed meeting or things not mentioned on the closed meeting motion are discussed during the closed meeting.  Those things are under the direct control of the Chair and Tim is an ethical man that I have known for a long time.  I trust him completely and have no doubt that he will run that closed meeting by the rules.  Having been through the process twice myself I can tell you that the Council never took a vote in a closed meeting but we did take what we called a "straw poll".  It's really better characterized as a "sense of the Council".  It has never been suggested that the Council process was in any way "illegal" so 'm sure the School Board will do the same thing.

The other bad thing that can happen is that someone who was in the closed meeting talks out of school.  Trust me, only bad things happen when someone breaches the trust of their colleagues.  These deliberations are doubly sensitive because board members will be discussing people, not issues. 

Closed meetings are always fodder for the critics and this seems to be no exception.  However, I wonder if the aim here isn't so much about the process as it is to impeach the results before the vote is even taken?

7 Comments

  1. From what I witnessed in the November elections both City Council and Schoolboard candidates pointed to the schools as one of the most important things for Manassas City to focus on to help with the City's continued success. It's seems to go against all common sense to use public media to sling mud at the schools and school officials that you say are so important to the city. This only paints a picture of elected officials who either don't really believe the schools are that important or maybe they simply used whatever means they could to get elected/reelected. Either way it looks much like federal politics today – simply put we all just can't get along.

     

  2. Council should stick to their knitting.  The infrastructure in the City is crumbling and their idea of pertinent issues are openin a lake 5 miles outside the city, building the next slum and the water tower.  I recall all of the candidates braying about how important economic development is but election day was the last I heard about it.  Come to think of it, that's the last day I heard about any of those issues.

  3. I too, like you Andy, always said spend some of that PEG money and add a camera to the Second Floor Conference Room.  Can understand the no interest – we average citizens in the street would see Council Members in a less-formal-than-the-dias mode!  And heaven forbid, we hear actual discussions of the City business!

    Back to the debate in social media, all this talk of illegial action….what is a poor citizen to do?  Why, look out on the Virginia Code to see if the published Agenda and hearing announcements and the whole process is legal!  And, my oh my, such as it is by Code Title 22-1, Chapter 5!

    http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+TOC22010000005000000000000

    And, living with the Virginia FOIA over on the Commission on Aging, you are dead spot on about how the closed meeting portion.

  4. Do we know who got the nod?

  5. andy

    February 20, 2015 at 6:05 am

    The persons name is Kristen Kiefer.  I don't know her but if the SB thought she was the person, that's what counts!  She'll have to run for the seat in November.

  6. Nine applicants is outstanding. Congratulations to Kristen.

  7. I'm not sure why council members feel compelled to yammer on about what the school board does.  the council doesn't control the schools.  The 3 tea party members of the council should focus on their own damn problems.  it isn't like the city is a model of efficiency.  It's like they're governing some other city.

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