Friday, October 16, 2009

"He didn't disclose something confidential."

If you have been following my departure from the District, you may recall that Marla Miller and her minions were spewing the concept that I somehow violated the public trust by revealing something confidential about the Old Woodway Elementary transaction.

For those of you who still cling to the statements made by questionably-motivated managers, please review the following, simple facts.

Before the Old Woodway Elementary site was sold, it was advertised in the Herald as being a surplus site and it was marketed to developers in its entirety. That means, it was made available for purchase as a complete site of 11.2 acres. The fact that such a declaration was made in the Herald (albeit just once, not the legally-required twice) and that the site was advertised to developers as 11.2 acres means that no portion of the site was obligated to anyone and certainly not the City of Edmonds. Making such a declaration in a Letter to the Editor was just restating publicly-known facts. If any portion of the site had been committed to anyone else, then the entire site would not have been available to developers.

For those of you who still choose to cling to the statements made by Marla Miller, I advise that you read her own words here in this transcript of her own words and approved by her lawyers. Line 14 on Page 141. The rest of her transcript will be posted later.

So, why would Marla Miller, Nick Brossoit and the Board take action to constructively terminate a highly-praised employee? Clearly they wanted to silence the only voice of reason in a real estate transaction that was far more complicated than it needed to be and that resulted in millions of dollars lost for the District. Remember that the Old Woodway Elementary transaction happened right on the heels of the District's purchase of the contaminated site - a site purchased without the Board-mandated Site Acquisition Committee.

I say again, since I have said it numerous times before, Marla was gravely concerned that the manner in which district funds were being squandered, through poorly-crafted real estate transactions, would deeply upset the community. What she failed to understand is that our community doesn't have the time or energy to study the issues that come before our school board. That is precisely why we elect board members who create and maintain board policies. Our community believes that their elected board members understand the consequences of their decisions. Unfortunately, the current board is not capable of the oversight they have been elected to provide. Susan Phillips may "pledge to do [her] best for our students and District" but, quite frankly, her best is not good enough.

Change is needed on the Board. In electing even one board member that has the intellectual capacity to articulate consequences before they happen, never again can our school board claim to be uninformed or refuse to accurately assess circumstances before they devour us. One voice of reason would be a great start to a total board transformation that must happen sooner rather than later... for the sake of our children.

Blog: Photo acquired through flickr and pfly.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey! I just received my postcard from the EEA stating thier recommendation of Susan Phillips! Their endorsement should scare anyone with the ability to think independently off!

Claire said...

What I find stunning is that anyone would believe that a public agency could have a confidential property transaction. They were hoping everyone would be so busy with their day to day lives that they wouldn't notice how they wasted tax dollars.

I hope you win your school board seat. You'll read the fine print and you're not afraid to confront untill the truth is revealed. You are exactly what any school district needs; someone to keep an eye on the budget.

Anonymous said...

I got my postcard too. There is no way in Hades that I would vote for more of the same. We need someone who thinks.

Anonymous said...

I of course voted for Mark Z; but as for the other ticket...I chose to write in Charles Manson.

Who knows, if elected they just might hafta let him out...

Anonymous said...

Unless the process has changed, there isn't much thought put into an EEA endorsement. Candidates come to an EEA rep meeting and are given a few minutes to speak, the reps vote, and that's it.

I was hoping that the current union leaders would be more interested in protecting their members' interests than the last batch of leaders. If they are endorsing Phillips, they aren't. The teachers will just get more of the same. "The beatings will continue until morale improves."

Anonymous said...

As I heard about the EEA discussion regarding candidates, the deciding factor was that Susan Phillips is a teacher. This group seems to idolize themselves, and can not get past the idea.

ESD15.org said...

This district will never grow as a public agency unless we change the current culture and force leadership to become more accountable.

Too many people just don't understand the financial impact that poor choices in Operations has on the education side of the house.

Anonymous said...

I am so happy that Mark is back on the BLOG!! I received my ballot in the mail, have voted for Mark and sent my ballot in the US mail.
I encourage all BLOG Readers to get the word out to friends, family, neighbors, community, about the issues that plague the Edmonds School District Board. Mark Zanberg is our ONLY HOPE FOR CHANGE! Please vote!

Anonymous said...

I am so happy that Mark is back on the BLOG!! I received my ballot in the mail, have voted for Mark and sent my ballot in the US mail.
I encourage all BLOG readers to get the word out to friends, family, neighbors, community, about the issues that plague the Edmonds School District Board. Mark Zanberg is our ONLY HOPE FOR CHANGE! Please vote!

teacherkh said...

What you are describing here is White Chalk Crime and the core reason our schools are a mess. Check out WhiteChalkCrime.com and EndTeacherAbuse.org as well as my book White Chalk Crime: The REAL Reason Schools Fail and become educated about education. You are all correct that the problem starts with school boards. However, there is far more intentional fraud than most people could imagine. I would like to post this blog at our site. Hope the person accused of disclosing something confidential contacts me at teacherkh, which is @aol.com.