Slap in the Face to Lake Voters
During last week’s Lake County School Board meeting and workshop, there were discussions about filling spots on upcoming committees for the next couple of years. The School Board decided to create two committees, the North Lake Long Range Facilities Planning Committee and the Advisory Committee on Purchasing, while putting in place the Calendar Committee. These committees will be filled with appointments made by School Board members.
According to school officials, the responsibilities of these committees will help direct School Board policy in the following areas:
- North Lake Long Range Facilities Planning Committee. This committee will help determine and advise the Lake County School Board on schools and improvements needed in the northern Lake County area.
- Advisory Committee on Purchasing. This committee will work with the School District’s purchasing department to encourage local purchasing and to oversee issues in purchasing. It will report directly to the School Board.
- Calendar Committee. This group will help create the school calendar for the year and determine the dates of critical events for the School District.
These committees will influence major areas of School District policy, and it is critical that good committee members are appointed.
There are two issues of concern in this situation.
First, liberal Democrat Chairperson Cindy Barrow and fellow Board Member Larry Metz have about one month left to serve; therefore, they should not be appointing anyone at this time for committees; rather, this should be left for incoming board members.
Second, and most outrageous, Barrow announced she wants to appoint defeated Lake County Commissioner, Linda Stewart, to the North Lake Long Range Facilities Planning Committee. Yes, the same anti-growth/anti-business Linda Stewart who was ousted out of office by 70% of voters. There’s no other way to characterize this move by Barrow other than being a slap in the face to Lake County voters. There’s no doubt or denial about it, Barrow and Stewart have always been in cahoots together.
What makes this even more disgraceful is that Barrow is leaving Lake County. She has no business trying to influence the future of this county. You would think four years of economic destruction by Barrow and Stewart would have been enough, but they just can’t stop killing jobs! Surely the Lake County School Board doesn’t want the failed policies of Stewart directing the future growth of schools in North Lake County. We suspect this gift from Barrow is meant to open the door for Stewart’s School Board candidacy down the road. It is very troubling to our group to see these actions, and it suggests to us that backroom dealings are alive and well in Lake County.
Also of concern is notification (or lack thereof) to the public about these open spots on the committees. There are many people in Lake County who are better qualified to sit on these committees, and this new School Board should improve its procedures for reaching out to the public. Our group has asked School Board members and administration officials for a complete explanation of the process, and our request for clarification has been ignored.
According to our sources, it takes a majority of the School Board members to approve committee assignments, and we call on the incumbent School Board members to delay any new committee appointments until the new board is seated in mid-November. It is only fair for the new School Board to have the opportunity to seat these committees properly, and any other action than that would suggest that current elected School Board members have no desire for unification or fairness. A lame duck Lake County School Board should defer all major decisions. Let the people’s vote count.
The Right Side of the Lake is a newsletter published by Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C., and you are free to forward this newsletter to everyone on your email list. Signup for the newsletter is free.
Related posts:
Ya know? People who make Comments and do not use their real name are either cowards or the opposition.
“Slap in the face to Lake Voters” — what baloney. If all Lake voters could have voted, the outcome would have been different but they were shut out due to a technical ruling by Kathryn Harris.
Linda Stewart knows a lot about education and for this site to say that she should not serve on such a committee is just plain ridiculous. We would be fortunate to have her input.
How can you actually believe that a fair number of Americans should have no say about anything simply because they may be in a minority within a given geographic area within a particular period of time?
Let us look at what Thomas Jefferson thought about this issue (in the words of a good friend of mine:)
“Old Thomas Jefferson, by the way, once wrote in his “Notes on the State of Virginia” that “an elective despotism was not the government we fought for.” It’s in keeping with his later reflections found in the letters he exchanged with old John Adams that last decade or so of their lives. The hope was that the we the people who made up the democratic legitimacy of the Constitution would stand officially for truth, justice, and wisdom. Within that legitimacy there would always be a majority and a minority, the latter owning the ability and the opportunity to oppose. Taken together, the majority and the minority constituted the sovereign will, and neither could ever be suppressed without mutilating the sovereign will. The country has always been pluralistic, ever since the original colonies. Compromise was the quintessential American way. The problem as I see it these days is that the sovereign will is being mutilated, and the very ligaments of political legitimacy are deteriorating.”
I would be more than willing to serve on one of these committees.
I certainly hope the voters can see this ongoing pattern of economic destruction masterminded by the democrats and actually supported by many RINO’s who either don’t know any better or just go along to get along! This same pattern used by Barrow, Stewart, Renick is supported in its entirity by those like Alex Sink, Charlie Crist, Obama and other anti-capitalist who believe government is the answer to all ills. Even with all the news of Tea Parties and such the unions such as PBA and FOP are pressuring and hammering all of their members to vote for those who are well know to continue this path to destruction of the formerly greatest economy on earth! Get involved! Find out what your representatives are doing for you, or worse too you!