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Letter by D208 board member fuels outrage
(20 posts)-
Posted Monday Apr 6, 2009 15:49 #
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I tend to watch the Village board elections, but I recall seeing LTEs from sitting V board members endorsing candidates. I'd have to check to find the back up. So that part of the criticism I found to lack merit. Or are school board trustees different than thier municipal counterparts?
here is one from MR Shields recommending the RP
http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=17&ArticleID=4827&TM=65592.95Posted Monday Apr 6, 2009 17:10 # -
Some trustees clearly misunderstand their public position. They are not on a "team." While we should expect some basic civility (no punches below the waist or eye-gouging), they have absolutely no business being loyal to each other, as if the Board were a street gang. The Code of Conduct states that their duty of loyalty is to the "taxpayers," and no one else. Jim Marciniak's letter might be confrontational, but in this country, he has the right to be confrontational.
Jim Marciniak certainly hasn't violated the Code of Conduct. As for other trustees quoted in the article, I recommend they reread this passage from their oath of office: "I will encourage and respect the free expression of opinion by my fellow board members...." The oath and Code of Conduct can be found here and here.
Posted Monday Apr 6, 2009 22:20 # -
thanks, steveDaily for those links and the insight into the proper standards of school board members. I notice the use of 'team' in the last post. Just asking - because I do approve of the 'swim team' to provide some important counterpoint in that environment - if the swim team gets in, to what extent might that be a 'new gang' (you know, 'meet the new gang, same as the old gang')? withdrawn/tabled -premature. we'll wait and see!
The D208 board meeting I attended yesterday was ...earthy, with tension that you cd cut w/ a knife, but still civil - a mock clapping and a couple loud SECONDS were nothing compared to what I read today in the Tribune occurs in nearby River Forest's Village board meetings.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-river-forest-06-apr06,0,3511497.story
Municipal incivility: River Forest board meetings get heated, bogged down
Western suburb of Chicago has a refined image, but politicians give it a rough realityBy Bob Secter | Tribune reporter
April 6, 2009Chicago aldermen have leaped on desks and warily eyed each other for hidden recording devices, but these days the center of raw, WWE-worthy municipal incivility is River Forest, a well-heeled western suburb of broad lawns and acid tongues.
The Village Board is a study in dysfunction, with meetings dominated by catcalls and insults. Not from the audience, but from the elected officials who openly question each others' integrity, liberally toss around the word "liar," and rehash years of grudges.
Consider this interplay during a recent board meeting between Village President Frank Paris, Trustee Patrick O'Brien, and board insurgent Steve Dudek, who asked a question that Paris dismissed as "asinine."
O'Brien: "Frank, why are you talking to this nitwit? Don't even entertain a discourse with this man."
Related links
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Audio from the River Forest meetings Audio
o River Forest Village Board meeting Audio
o 'Why are you talking to this nitwit?' AudioDudek: "Did you call me another name?"
Paris: "Jackass would be better."
River Forest, population 11,600 and 10 miles from the Loop, is one of dozens of suburbs holding elections Tuesday. Like most, it faces difficult questions in this economy about strained budgets and sagging tax revenues.
Yet board demeanor and paralysis have become the dominant issues in village races in River Forest, where one of the few things rival candidates agreed on at a recent election forum was that bringing in a counselor to teach board members to play nice might be a good idea.
Things hit a new low last month with a 4-3 vote to reject a new ethics ordinance. Depending on the spin, the measure was either a bid to shine light on the clubby atmosphere of the village's ruling elite or a cynical pre-election publicity grab by a candidate vying to succeed Paris, who after four terms is stepping down.
Rare is the community free of infighting, but River Forest to outsiders might seem too refined for political spitball. Packed into its 2.5 square miles are two private colleges, public schools that turn in some of the best test scores in Illinois, and a stately array of million-dollar-plus homes, including several by Frank Lloyd Wright.
But the affluence has hardly insulated the village from political and demographic trends which have drawn younger, more diverse and politically moderate residents into once conservative suburban havens. One example: Anita Alvarez, the new Democratic state's attorney in Cook County, is a River Forest resident.
That shift is feeding the acrimony. Paris long dominated local government like a fiefdom, but increasingly he has gotten push-back from a faction of board members for his handling of contracts, development and a Police Department with a history of discrimination allegations.
The resentments routinely bubble over at meetings of the board, which is so split that it has yet to even reach consensus on approving the minutes of one of its January meetings. Shouting matches have become the norm.
Take that recent debate over the ethics initiative, which would have required board members to publicly report contacts they had with anyone seeking to lobby them. The proposal, from first-term Trustee Steve Hoke also took aim at a complaint that Paris had stacked village commissions on zoning and other matters with cronies.
It would have encouraged, though not required, local applicants for those positions to post their qualifications on the village Web site for all to see. Hoke, one of two candidates vying to succeed Paris, said voluntary résumé postings would put pressure on the village leader not to appoint "Bozo the Clown."
Those words set Paris off with a vengeance.
"We're all Bozos, all the people we appoint are Bozos?" he snapped. "Is that what you're trying to say, Hoke? You're trying to see if we can find four honest people on the board tonight. Is that what you said?"
Paris will soon be gone, but his legacy looms large over Tuesday's elections. There are competing slates of board and village president candidates, one led by Hoke, an attorney, and the other by John Rigas, an accountant and former board member.
Rigas' campaign has focused on putting an end to the bickering, which he says is getting in the way of resolving serious financial problems faced by the village.
"It's a full group of people who are going out of their way to not get along," said Rigas, adding that Hoke often shares in the blame by deliberately trying to get a rise out of the easily provoked Paris.
But to Hoke, Rigas is a tool of Paris and the status quo.
"River Forest has always been dominated by a select group," said Hoke, noting that among the board candidates on Rigas' slate is the current village clerk, Catherine Adduci. She is the wife of Al Ronan, one of the state's most controversial and connected lobbyists.
Ronan, who filed the election nominating papers for his spouse, was the name partner in a now-defunct lobbying firm convicted and fined more than $400,000 in a McCormick Place bid rigging scandal in the corruption probe of ex-Gov. George Ryan.
George Parry, a financial analyst who has lived in River Forest for 50 years, said he is appalled by a political climate that is "totally uncivil and sometimes thuggish."
"In most places meetings are conducted with civility," complained Parry, who years ago helped Paris win election but is now backing Hoke. "Here they are shut down."
Posted Monday Apr 6, 2009 22:36 # -
Interesting "twist",
For me, it was not obvious that Marciniak's letter had been edited by the paper.
Reading the full letter on the Improve-RB website, (again for me) the letter has a totally different feel.
I found the way it was printed to be oddly negative and was questioning the "politically correctness" of it. I was asking myself "why not just stay positive and focus on why you support SWIM...why go after Hruska aggressively?". Yet after reading the full letter, the part on Hruska was not anywhere near as focused and aggressive.
Words can be so powerful. When there is no body language to frame the tone of words it is hard enough to balance. Add to that someone else's edit...well you see what I'm getting at.
2cents.
Posted Wednesday Apr 8, 2009 10:31 # -
If the editing doesn't get you, the headline often will, as I have learned to my chagrin. I don't think we are well-served by such practices.
I agreed entirely with Steve. And, apparently, ask and you will receive. I look forward to a board oriented to fiscal accountability and responsibility, as well as academic excellence. These are my only concerns.
Posted Wednesday Apr 8, 2009 11:15 # -
In most things I have seen Jim Marciniak do in regards to the Balderman affair he has been right on target. In the recent video circulating that showed the D208 board meeting this past Sunday he was the only one who asked about a limitation of liability on Balderman's ability to sue.
He was also right that the board should have terminated him for cause last year. Allowing Balderman to stay still leaves the taxpayers open to sexual harassment and employment suits from his alleged girlfriend that worked for the district and any other affected employees if she was given some sort of preferential treatment.
My hope is this new board changes the D208 employment contracts for
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every
Posted Wednesday Apr 8, 2009 12:41 # -
I hear you and can align with some of it, but respectfully disagree on strictness.
With our legal system, the taxpayers are always open to impact of law suits. There are numerous examples of spiteful accusations that have no merit but cost us money to litigate.
It is easy for certifications to be out of compliance. If Passarella's explanation is true, it is a perfect example.
IMO, the spirit of the law and the actions of the people involved must be included in a judgment.
Posted Wednesday Apr 8, 2009 15:04 # -
I seem to get a different take on this. It seems the office that does the actual certificates (in Springfield?) sends the stuff to some regional orother office, run by a guy named Flowers, who seems to have one employee, also named Flowers. It sounds to me like someone there was asleep at the switch and did not (perhaps) notify (promptly) either Baldermann or Passarella. It sounds like some typically antiquated system where there are state association employees around the state with little fiefdoms. Perhaps Mr. Flowers has a wife or daughter or another relative working there and they screwed up, it got filed without being completed, whatever. Perhaps this is a lot more common and happens at many schools. From what I have seen of Mr. Passarella is exactly the kind of person RBHS needs. He has a lot of respect from the students and other faculty.
Last election there was a slate of Marciniak, Hillp and Roeblng running together. Only Marciniak made it. Immedicately thereafter the other two started sqwauking they had been cheated by a mailing the school (Baldermann) did, etc. Then Hillp came to Board meetings and made all kinds of charges including that the Board had hired a felon, etc. The Board called him for his proof of these accusations and he rolled over, saying he had none - words to that effect, after they gave him a letter informing him that his charges were wrong and saying they would take whatever legal redress they could. Next thing he was eating humble pie and backing away from his actions. I also saw the same thing happen with accusations made at a Board Meeting in Riverside about a local business owner, even declaring he was a murderer. That too, there was no proof and the guy that made the charges backed away. He is a big supporter, I believe, of the new people on the Board.
I just want to recall this so that before we start tearing people apart personally they should think about who and what could be behind it. I think the question of salaries and compensation is going to be a big deal in tougher times, and times are going to be a lot tougher before they get better. The Feds, state, county, localities and the schools are all going to have to ralize that the middle class is really under pressure. Most people that bought homes in the last four years - even with conventional mortgages - may find themselves upside down. Everybody is going to have to share the pain - union or not. Top to bottom. But let's not start taking what can may be a bureaucratic mixup and throw the baby out with the bath water. Remember that good school systems are an asset that benefits everyone of us.
Posted Wednesday Apr 8, 2009 16:46 # -
Don I see you read the RGE Monitor, So do I, but Dr Doom gets a little wearing at times. Balderman did a good Job over the years and the aricle in the Landmark today explains alot,(to me at least). However, I also believe small town gossip and purient/puritanical attitudes also were a factor in his leaving. I wish him well were ever he winds up.
Posted Wednesday Apr 8, 2009 17:28 #
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