skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I will number them for ease of reference and for the convenience of our international readers.
1. Bruce Williams moved outside of his director district, the blog and its readers easily proved it and he was compelled to resign on September 11, 2007. I won't go into the reasons as to why he relocated, but they insufficiently justify the nonsensical retention of his board seat. His appointed replacement, Susan Phillips, reads the blog frequently but has no independent thought of her own.
2. Nick Brossoit lied numerous times to cover for Bruce Williams and yet his lies were easily dismantled by the blog and its readers. When Bruce Williams moved outside of his director district, Nick Brossoit asked Mark Zandberg to redefine director districts. Then, when Mark Zandberg asked about Bruce Williams, while using a pen name, Nick Brossoit concocted a ridiculous story about modernizing a rented apartment.
3. Marla Miller entered into a scheme with Arnie Tucker of Seattle Piano Gallery to buy pianos under the disguise of a "lease" to fool the State Auditor. Then, to make matters worse, Tam Osborne issued a check for just under the legally significant threshold of $40,000.00 to buy four of these pianos. Even Arnie Tucker's lawyer characterized the piano transaction as a "scheme" and the Audit Manager was still unable to connect the dots.
4. Gary Noble ran for a seat on the Board despite two different board policies that prevented it. Sure, when you run the first time you might be forgiven because technically the violation only occurs once you are elected. When Gary Noble ran for re-election, there was no denying the fact that he was in direct violation. Nick Brossoit and the Board repeatedly denied the fact that none of them can read and understand simple English and waited until after the State Auditor told them to follow or revise board policies to actually revise them. It doesn't change the fact that Gary Noble is currently serving under the rules of the earlier policies. His day in court is coming.
5. Pat Shields was actively involved in the formation of Powerful Partners. This organization then entered into a lease with the Edmonds School District and never paid a single cent of the required rental payments. In fact, it was just a use agreement, which excluded a base rental rate and came without any financial benefit for the District. Mark Zandberg attempted to collect the rent and was always turned away. Then Marla Miller stepped in and declared that she would take care of it. The way in which she "took care of it" was to give Powerful Partners a free ride.
6. The State Auditor is an agency of hacks. I have had the pleasure and privilege of knowing a few of their former employees and the stories they share would make any taxpayer shudder. In the case of the Edmonds School District, Sadie Armijo was unable to understand the concept of a property appraisal and how such devices can be easily used to defraud taxpayers. Chris Kapek was easily bamboozled by Powerful Partners changing their name to Powerful Tutors. Chris Kapek was also easily fooled by the words contained in the piano "lease" and couldn't see the intent behind the words. The State Auditor is not doing any favors for the taxpayers of the Edmonds School District.
7. Marla Miller also manipulated the process of appraising the property known as Old Woodway Elementary. While it resulted in a direct windfall to the City of Edmonds and her friends at Burnstead, the Edmonds School District lost a fortune.
8. Marla Miller also worked with Mike Raskin to convince the Board to buy a contaminated piece of property that had been rejected three times before. The fact of contamination is irrefutable, despite Nick Brossoit's statements to the contrary. The District's appraisal came in at $3,300,000.00 and the seller's came in at $5,800,000.00. The District paid $5,800,000.00 and will have to deal with the contamination whenever they make any changes to the site.
9. The Capital Partnerships Program was shifted away from Property Management, where the District was an actual project partner, to the Capital Projects Office, where the District charges for project management and every time staff moves a muscle or lifts a pencil. How is that fair to parents or community members that sell cupcakes to subsidize CPO staff salaries in addition to the increased property tax they have already paid and continue to pay every year.
10. There is also a swollen collection of imbeciles that are in positions at the District where they either have absolutely no meaningful experience or an utter absence of intellect that makes the completion of their job virtually impossible. These individuals are so arrogant that they even profess to their co-workers their amazement in how they were hired in the first place. What is troubling for the many of us looking in from the outside is that most of the District is so focused on saving the nickles and dimes in their sphere of control, they don't appear to notice the hemorrhaging going on everywhere else.
There are many other bone-jarring issues covered in the blog, but the ten points above offer a quick snapshot of what this blog is all about. We believe in public accountability and will not rest until the Board and Superintendent realize they are on the wrong path and make meaningful corrections - like resigning and moving on to a community that can more adequately afford the corruption they have allowed to take root here.
Fact: Gary Noble was ineligible to seek election to the Board and was still ineligible when he sought re-election in 2007.
This was confirmed by the State Auditor and the Attorney General. The District recently changed board policies to allow this conflict to occur for future candidates, however, Mr. Noble is to be held to the standard that was in place when he filed as a candidate.
Fact: Bruce Williams was not eligible to occupy his board position and resigned.
Despite the fact that the Superintendent lied numerous times to conceal this fact, readers of the blog did a little research and uncovered what was really happening. As unfortunate as his personal life may have been, there was no reason to spew forth so many lies about modernizing apartments and what WSSDA might feel about deceptive practices.
Fact: The Piano Scam was a scam.
The involvement of the District's legal counsel was to make it somehow meet a minimal threshold. The use of a lease came close but the State Auditor has confirmed that the intent was to purchase the pianos, not lease them.
Fact: Powerful Partners is stealing space from the District.
The District claimed that Powerful Partners disbanded in 2007, but somehow they are still using their same name and still occupy the same space in the ESC. If an organization "disbands" are they no longer responsible for the debts they have accumulated?
Fact: The New Administration Site is contaminated.
The problem with establishing this fact is the absence of legally-required documentation being filed with the appropriate agencies. Personally reading many of these documents was enough to convince staff and consultants of contamination. The District, however, wanted to funnel an additional $2,500,000.00 to a friend from Medina with wineries in Woodinville.
Fact: Capital Partnership funds have been misappropriated.
When the District decided to no longer be a partner and transfer these projects to another department that is capital funded, they swept more than $150,000.00 in matchable money under the rug. This single action removed $300,000.00 in projects away from district playgrounds.
Fact: Reconfigurations are now performed by outside vendors.
The District has no one on staff that has the ability to learn or understand how to maintain inventory of panels and parts. They have no one on staff that can manage a reconfiguration. They have no internal talent that can learn or become trained in reconfigurations.
Fact: The District hires friends and relatives.
If you have any doubts as to the validity of this statement, you aren't getting out much. People that have come in dead last in a list of applicants have magically been hired. People that didn't even bother to apply had their applications inserted in after the deadline. People without any qualifications or experience have been hired to manage staff having jobs they don't understand.
Fact: The District did not act in the public's best interest when they sold Old Woodway Elementary.
This topic will be covered in greater detail in the near future. Essentially, during the peak of our last real estate frenzy, the District advertised the entire site as being for sale. After filtering out all developers that could not perform a demolition, they then handed a vacant piece of dirt to Burnstead. The summary page of the Old Woodway appraisal says it all.
Fact: The Snohomish County Auditor does not actually audit anything.
We cannot achieve public accountability if the State Auditor refers critical issues to the County Auditor, only to have her readily confess that she doesn't audit anything. Her job is more appropriately described as that of County Recorder.
Fact: The District claims they do not keep copies of checks.
This statement was only made to avoid having to reveal that no rent was being collected from Powerful Partners, now Powerful Tutors. For more than six years, I personally copied every check that I received while working for the District and I never received a single check from Powerful Partners.
Fact: The District refuses to read and understand the Capital Facilities Plan before adopting it.
Never fear. The document doesn't actually reveal anything anymore. There are no student generation rates nor does it provide any meaningful basis for the enrollment trends it might try to illustrate. If an agency refuses to follow their own adopted planning documents, why not just water them down so they become as meaningless as the Board?
Fact: The District hired someone to sit at home for 16 hours a week waiting for a pager to go off.
Staff used to carry the pager one weekend a month as Non-Exempt employees and never received compensation for all of the hours they sat around waiting for a crisis to occur. Personally, I carried the pager for no less than 30 days a year and never received a single dollar for the inconvenience.
There are many other rather shocking revelations to discover by reading this blog. If you have any doubt as to the credibility of any statement contained herein, please feel free to contact us. You can also contact the District, but then they won't tell you anything.
1. The Edmonds School District teaches history but is compelled to repeat it. Despite having all the evidence for a budget shortfall and decreasing enrollment, they still get caught with their proverbial toga down.
2. The Edmonds School District violates their own playbook by A) no longer bothering to post a position, B) sneaking in their favored application in after the deadline, C) directing members of the screening committee to change their scores for the pre-ordained candidate and D) disregarding the unanimous decision of the interviewing committee. Who needs a qualified candidate when we have so many friends facing a budget crunch.
3. The Edmonds School District no longer draws upon internal talent to develop, design, and build reconfigurations. Who needs qualified staff when you have so much money? A window seat will keep the Director of Facilities Operations happy. It's just $11,000.00.
4. The Edmonds School District follows the direction of the Snohomish Health District and doesn't notify parents that a child in school has MRSA. Perhaps the Health District should conduct state audits because they apparently carry a bit of clout. Odd that a private school in Edmonds cared enough to contain a medical condition and error on the side of caution.
5. The Edmonds School District develops automated systems to notify parents when their children do not appear in school. Unfortunately, the automated system has no idea it just dialed the wrong number. Worse still, no one answers when you try to call back. It might be a good idea to increase your family's insurance coverage.
6. The Edmonds School District doesn't advertise success - as rare as it may be - for fear of attracting better students from districts nearby. That is certainly the last thing we would ever want sitting next to our students - another student that actually wants to be there.
7. The Edmonds School District does appear to be a little heavy on the top. Years of enriching friends has to come to an end eventually when the students don't exist - or does it? They can move the furniture around the living room until the fire department shows up.
8. The Edmonds School District claims the new administration site is worth a lot more than actual value - until they seek to purchase the adjacent vacated street, in which case it becomes worth much, much less.
9. The Edmonds School District rents tables every year, instead of buying them. Why? They must be certain this silly WASL thing is about to be cancelled forever. Reports to the blog place the actual expense for renting tables at between $18,000.00 and $20,000.00 a year. For that price, you could almost justify making the WASL a take-home test.
10. The Edmonds School District is not accountable to the Snohomish County Prosecutor, the State Attorney General or the Superintendent of Public Instruction. We have already established they are not accountable to their own board policies. Who has the only leverage with district management? The State Auditor. But we shall soon see how much oversight they really possess. Place your bets.
11. The Edmonds School District appears to be losing a lot of staff these days. The Director of Transportation is retiring. The Network Administrator is resigning. The Business Manager has been down graded to Prof Tech. What will the District do in the midst of this massive "brain drain"? (Real. Real. Sarcasm.)
12. The Edmonds School District allows documents to be destroyed before the State Auditors can evaluate them. The District needs pianos. What does it matter how much was paid or from whom they were purchased. Details. Details.
13. The Edmonds School District seems incapable of preparing students for college math. Fortunately, I have numbered these issues so no one will fall behind. Of course, if we have constituents that can't add, subtract or bisect a chord, chances are they won't understand the overpayment of $2,300,000.00 for contaminated property. Bravo.
14. The Edmonds School District recommends that everyone watch "Finding Nemo" and "West Side Story". A child's cartoon and actors prancing around with knives greatly outweighs any meaningful work of literature. Let's build a legacy of mediocrity with everyone else's child. Shoreline is starting to look much better about now.
15. The Edmonds School District violates every shred of due diligence and buys property that King 5 easily proves should not have been purchased. The greatest experts in the state chimed in and guess what? Marla was wrong. The price of Nick's Legacy just went up by $2,300,000.00. Stay tuned for the cost to remediate contamination. That figure will only get larger. Much larger.
16. The Edmonds School District fails to adequately provide on-the-job training for their own Assistant Superintendents. What chance do our children have? While Granite Falls chucks all of the fingerlings back in the pond to cast another line in the stream, our district gets to keep their collection of highly paid administrators. Happy, happy. Joy, joy.
17. The Edmonds School District finally admits that enrollment is decreasing. What tipped them off? Was it the sound of crickets in the classroom? Oh, that's right. The decrease happened to coincide with an increase in classroom size. Sure does look crowded around here.
18. The Edmonds School District plays with numbers in claiming that we should pass the Tech Levy because it will decrease our property taxes. Call me unenlightened and mathematically-impaired but what would happen if we voted it down all together?
19. The Edmonds School District has so few vocal supporters in Snohomish County that they ask college kids in Illinois to write in their supportive comments. Unfortunately, these kids don't know what an IP address is or how it identifies them as being the son of the problem.
20. The Edmonds School District uses public funds to actively and aggressively seek out the least qualified people they can find. Intelligent people with experience in their profession ask hard questions and nobody wants that. Especially if they are trying to buy pianos and contaminated property.
21. The Edmonds School District cannot even locate their own property on a map. Every other country on the planet pokes fun at Americans because we apparently cannot locate Mexico on a world map. I would think if we just bought a contaminated piece of property the size and location of Texas, we might just have a clue. I bet Connelly Skis was unpleasantly surprised to be included in the District's grand plan to bamboozle the taxpayers.
22. The Edmonds School District swept $150,000.00 of Capital Partnership money right into Capital Projects with no plan to build anymore playgrounds. These were matching funds, which means a loss of $300,000.00 in real improvements that our children would feel, enjoy and appreciate. Way to go.
23. The Edmonds School District tolerates the interruption of everyone's workday to count keys and write down numbers. They allow fire alarm tests to be conducted during business hours. This would be called "bad planning". You need to hire someone that can plan and that has a detectable regard for the modern work environment.
24. The Edmonds School District tries to manufacture a case of inappropriate use of the Internet against a former employee to create a reason to terminate him. Meanwhile, they have a proven case of inappropriate use of the Internet and the culprit is still on staff. Busy maintaining a hostile work environment for everyone else. That is a legal case waiting to be filed.
25. The Edmonds School District goes out of their way to bend the rules for friends of management. While verbally assaulting staff, destroying public property and resisting arrest, this pillar of the community was given a "Get out of harm's way" card by management. No Trespass Order? We didn't mean it.
26. The Edmonds School District claims they wanted to more effectively evaluate each and every new development in the District but then quickly realized they didn't hire anyone that could actually do that sort of work. Maybe when she figures out what email is.
27. The Edmonds School District actively destroyed documents rather than take the time to understand them. You can't be held to a higher standard if you shred any evidence of any earlier standards. I hope they at least recycled.
28. The Edmonds School District chooses to spend hundreds of dollars in the hope of collecting a $15 check for the use of a parking lot. Why route every simple request through a law firm? Perhaps the District is hoping that incurring such an extreme cost will motivate certain people to stop looking for places to park. I wonder what that legal tab is so far? I would ask but the cost of doing so may have me losing sleep.
29. The Edmonds School District claims to have an Attendance Incentive Program and then burns all of your vacation days over 30. Or do they? They cannot cite any relevant RCW and are now relying solely on "Past Practice" as their governing authority. They are also hatching deals behind closed doors to appease staff that are poised to file legal action for a hostile work environment.
30. The Edmonds School District fosters an atmosphere of bullying by staff and students. If anyone has the sense to focus on creating a brighter future for themselves and others, watch them duck and dive out in the hall. Teachers have to not only intervene when one student bullies another but then tolerate such unprofessional conduct in the Teacher's Lounge.
A few more - click here. Thank you for your support.
● Capital Facilities Plan was adopted but wholly ignored by the Board and district management in planning for student enrollment. Student numbers dropped significantly, as predicted by the CFP, but no adjustments were made to prepare for this drop and the District was left with a very large budget deficit.
● During the resulting “budget crisis” of more than $5,000,000.00 the District approved large raises for all district administrators with a net increase to payroll in excess of $550,000.00 every year. At the same time, departments within the District were tasked with making substantial cuts to their operating budgets.
● The Edmonds School District spent $5,600,000.00 for a property that their own consultants reported as contaminated and their own appraiser placed a value of just $3,300,000.00. The final purchase price was every penny of the appraisal supplied and paid for by the seller. No review appraisal occurred and no negotiations were conducted in an effort to reduce the total of $5,600,000.00.
● In violation of Board Policies 1260, 6810 and 9200, Gary Noble serves as a member of the board while his wife teaches at the current Lynnwood High School. Gary Noble was an outspoken proponent of building a new Lynnwood High School in what is currently known as Bothell or unincorporated Snohomish County. This new construction is taking place without regard for long-term planning which suggests that enrollment is trending downward.
● In violation of Board Policies 1260, 1270 and 9200, Pat Shields started a pet project called Powerful Partners and agreed by way of a lease to pay rent for prime office space in the District’s administration building. Not only has rent never been paid, their tax records show that the value of the space was described as a donation. Public assets cannot be donated.
● In violation of Board Policy 1245 and 9200, Bruce Williams was allowed to seek re-election for a seat on the Board despite having moved from his director district long before the filing date to become a candidate. The Superintendent lied numerous times in claiming that Bruce was just “modernizing” this second residence while maintaining a presence in his primary address that was used for filing purposes. However, Bruce had a restraining order filed against him by his wife, making it impossible to live at the address where he was claiming residency. Bruce Williams resigned on September 11, 2007.
● The current Warehouse Manager, also the husband of an employee in Human Resources, was found to have downloaded a huge amount of pornography on a District computer during working hours. The District's version of an investigation was conducted and despite irrefutable evidence, the District did nothing to address this misconduct. This manager has since created a hostile environment for staff assigned to his location.
● The current Payroll Manager recently hired her sister from the clerical sub list and then processed a salary modification moving her from the standard rate of $10.50 an hour to $18.50 an hour. No justification for this action has been provided. Investigation in progress.
● The District entered into numerous interlocal agreements (ILAs) with local city governments and then refuses to collect payment. Over the last several years, invoices have been sent to the City of Lynnwood and the City of Mountlake Terrace only to have their obligations waived by the Assistant Superintendent.
● Marla Miller also struck a deal with Seattle Piano Gallery that has been characterized as a “scheme” by legal counsel. Marla agreed to lease 14 pianos to avoid procurement processes. She did not competitively bid the acquisition of these pianos but just handed more than $76,000 to her friend and owner of Seattle Piano Gallery, Arnie Tucker. At the end of the one year “lease”, Mr. Tucker was to sell the 14 pianos and refund a portion to the District to defray their initial investment. However, before the end of the lease arrived, Marla provided a check to Mr. Tucker for just under $40,000.00, the threshold for bidding. This check was retained by Mr. Tucker and the District asked for it back. To date, those funds have never been collected.
● The District has also allowed staff to take vacations during contractual work periods while paying their salary and a stipend and not deducting the days away from work. Investigation in progress.
● The District sold property to Snohomish County and City of Lynnwood for no less than 90% of the appraised value, as required by state law. However, when the initial appraisal was offered to the City, they complained because the City was receiving the property from the County, but only up to a certain dollar figure, anything more than that figure would have to be covered by the City. Staff was directed to redefine the manner in which the appraisal was performed. Essentially, the appraiser was instructed to view the wetland buffer in the most conservative manner allowed and then add additional buffers. This reduced the overall acreage available and reduced the value of the site. Approximate loss totals more than $50,000.00.
● The District has reported, through their legal counsel, that they do not retain copies of checks, despite evidence to the contrary from current and former staff. The District has used this response to mislead residents in the District into believing that rent is being paid by municipal partners and other non-rent paying occupants in the administration building.
● The Edmonds School District routinely hires managers without applications or interviews. One business manager was “gifted” his current position. One Assistant Superintendent was “gifted” her current position, though the title has been slightly upgraded.
● In response to an increase in public records requests, district management has actively destroyed documents rather than provide them to the public. Several eye witnesses have reported seeing documents in specific locations and then the District hired a clerical substitute without training or expertise in the retention of critical documents to dispose of a large volume of materials prior to filling requests for them.
● The District is also aggressively hiring totally unqualified people to fill key roles that may otherwise have objected to mismanagement. One recent hire earns $58,000.00 with minimal knowledge of Word, Excel, or basic email applications and will certainly never detect poor choices in property sales or acquisitions.
● The District has also allowed an atmosphere of professional bullying to take root and flourish, resulting in an exodus of highly-qualified teachers and staff. When Nick Brossoit said he was going to change the Edmonds School District, we thought he meant in a positive way.
For more information regarding these issues and many more, please use the navigational labels in the column to the right.
Gary and Kay Noble
While Gary sits on the board, his wife works at Lynnwood High School. This is in clear violation of board policy, despite legal counsel's rendering of the English language.
Pat Shields
Using influence to secure free rent for one of his pet projects, Pat is in violation of board policies and has no apparent ethical issue with taking public resources. Maybe I should ask about the funding for Powerful Partners' employee.
Bruce Williams
Arguably committed election fraud by relocating prior to an election. His violation of board policies prompted his resignation on September 11, 2007.
New Administration Site
Despite claims to the contrary, the new site is contaminated. If it wasn't, the District should have purchased it in 1991 when it was shockingly more affordable.
Appraisals
Many are left to question why the District chose to ignore their own appraisal and pay every penny of the seller's appraisal for a site that will cost a significant amount of money to remediate. At the per square foot Raskin was citing, the District should have sold their site to him.
Capital Partnerships
These widely-popular projects have moved to the Capital Projects Office, where management fees will mean a reduction in scope for every future partnership project.
Seattle Piano Gallery
A questionable deal appears to have left the District paying a lot of money for just four pianos. A request has been made for a copy of the $76,121.10 check that may bring the deal back to reality. Seattle Piano Gallery's owner appears to be filing for bankruptcy.
Letters of Direction
When you get one, and its only a matter of time, they apparently don't mean anything and shouldn't be taken literally. If a few short email messages diffuse the intent of a Letter of Direction, why hand them out in the first place?
Post-Resignation Conduct
Apparently, employees can never get out from under the District's thumb. Once you accept a paycheck, the District views you as owned property and unable to have an independent thought upon departing.
Don't make copies of checks
The District claims they don't retain copies of checks. This would be directly contrary to past practices for more than a decade. The tax-paying public would appreciate the retention of copies, and at ten cents per copy, it makes financial sense.
Cities do not honor Inter-Local Agreements
I have yet to receive any proof that payment has been made to support Terrace Park or Cedar Valley gym expansions. I know the District has asked for payment, but no doubt it was over turned on appeal.
Capital Facilities Plan
The board apparently doesn't read everything it adopts. The 2004-2009 CFP clearly demonstrated that student enrollment was trending downward and yet no one bothered to use the CFP when planning on financial support from the state.
Attendance Incentive Program
This program doesn't mean anything. If you show up for work every day and accumulate vacation at a greater than average rate, expect to lose everything over 30 when you leave.
Superintendent does not accept anonymous comments
And yet endorses the Auditor's use of anonymous comments to help guide the District in becoming a more efficient agency.
There are no cubicle standards in the ESC
Once upon a time, cubicles were kept at a minimum standard for the comfort and operational requirements of their occupants. Now, anyone can move high walls next to windows and cast shadows over their co-workers.
ESD15.org is not a district domain
The District thought if they camped in my yard for a few nights, they could lay claim to my house. I should have charged a tent fee.
I will number them for ease of reference and for the convenience of our international readers.
