Everyone is bugging me to write about last Wednesday’s meeting. I had to wait because I would have been too cruel to too many people. I’m sure some of you will find the following cruel anyway. But I assure you it is not as cruel as it would have been had I wrote this blog last Thursday. I am not naturally a politically correct person. Writing without offending someone is virtually impossible. An opinion letter in today’s
Beacon Journal (scroll to T minus Imus) from a Falls resident said it beautifully: Don’t say anything, you’ll offend someone, Don’t hear anything, you wont be offended, Close your eyes, you wont see the hypocrisy.
I was shocked at the army of Silver Lake residents in attendance. But the motive became clear a few minutes into the meeting. It’s the start of the campaigning season. A member of the public asked Mrs. Gunter to resign. Before I go into specifics, I want to clarify a few things. I call this person a member of the public because he is not a home owner or renter. In fact he has no idea what it is like to support a family, pay property taxes, city, state and federal income taxes, insurance premiums, etc, etc, etc… He twice ran for school board and lost, is a politician’s dream lackey, and lastly, our superintendent was his high school principal and Mr. Public Member absolutely admittedly worships the ground he walks on. That said he made the following statement, the grammar belongs to the speaker. As usual my comments are in red:
I just have a few comments and questions that I would like to share regarding the Board evaluations of Dr. Holland and the subsequent newspaper articles related to the evaluations. To start I would like to remind this Board that on September 22, of last you year, you voted to give Dr. Holland a four-year Contract extension, some of the reasons that you cited for giving him this contract were things like his outstanding performance as he led the district out of financial disaster, your desire for continuity in the leadership of this district, and Dr. Holland's sincere desire to remain a Black Tiger. (I did none of this and the “desire” was so sincere that our superintendent applied for two jobs subsequent. Do you think that was on the boards’ minds while evaluating?) Now, almost 6 months removed, we have all this controversy that comes out about individual board member evaluations and whether or not they are fair. So I think that the community deserves some very direct answers from the Board and specifically one board member for his or her evaluation of Dr. Holland. I am only singling out this one board member because (as I prepare to run for school board again and) as I read each of the evaluations and the comments contained in them, this person is the only one who fails to show any hint of objectivity in their evaluation. I am very interested to know what has changed from Sept. 22 of last year when this person sat at that table and excitedly voted yes to renew Dr. Holland's contact and Feb. 13 of this year when this person submitted their evolution of Dr. Holland to the Board's attorney. The public deserves an explanation as to why this board member voted yes to approve a contract worth close to a half a million dollars (because when dealing with a frightened-of-losing-the-superintendent board majority, you agree to vote yes to negotiate the BS out of the contract, my little grass hopper) to a man that he or she has deemed to be grossly inadequate, so inadequate that this Board member rated him as such in 34 of 39 areas of evaluation. (Here are copies of the evaluations for those who are interested) I would also like to know how Dr. Holland, the man that this Board member has deemed to be so inadequate and down right unprofessional has made it through his entire professional career of more than 20 years without having anything less than outstanding evaluation, evaluations that are actually done by qualified professionals. (Oooh, that hurt)
I also question why this Board member at the March 21 Board meeting chose to congratulate Dr. Holland, the man that she deemed to be inadequate and unprofessional a month earlier for not getting the Hudson superintendentcy, ( <--- not a word) a position that would have taken his alleged inadequacy out of Cuyahoga Falls. (What was she supposed to do, say ha ha?) It just doesn't make sense to me. It seams that someone is talking out of both sides of their mouth.
As I conclude, unless there are some very compelling reasons that this person can come up with to explain their actions, it seems to me that they have clearly have lost all objectivity as a Board Member and it has clearly become their goal to slander the superintendent, opening the district to a tremendous amount of legal liability, liability that the taxpayers should not have to assume. (LOL! Opinions on an evaluation do not equal slander! I hope you are not looking to be Public Member, Esq.) In addition, I would say that not only this persons lack of objectivity but their highly unprofessional behavior during board meetings (for instance the time that this person quacked like a duck in lieu of a yes or no vote) (Grrrr ruff ruff) tells me that this person no longer deserves the privilege of holding this office. A privilege that in my opinion, this person has abused time and time again. It is time for this community to step up tell this person and other public officials that this conduct is not okay. With that being said, I want to publicly ask Ms. Barb Gunter to resign. Without objectivity and a clear sense of right and wrong you are of no use to the children and taxpayers of this district. Thank you
First of all I want you to know Mrs. Gunter has no intention of resigning. Talk about losing objectivity! Objectivity was lost on him when he assumed that his opinion of the superintendent should be Mrs. Gunters’. Walk a mile in her orthopedics before you rush to judgement! You have no idea the personal experiences each member has had with the superintendent. I guess you’ll have to wait until she is up for reelection to show her your personal dissatisfaction. The Falls News sums it up best this week in their editorial.
Next up in the firing line was the survey. It seems quite a few residents who couldn’t bother to read about or come to meetings regarding the survey, couldn’t understand why there was so much in the survey and why it was formatted the way it was. I will explain once again why the survey was so daunting for all of you that were perplexed by it. This board agreed that this was a costly undertaking but a very important one. The only way to know what the public wants and expects from us is to ask them. We put each and every piece of information into it that we could think of. The work sessions where input from the public could have been garnered, were posted and advertised! Where were your regiments then? I suspect garden club. If it was too confusing throw it out! But I believe this board did one hell of a job getting all the information we could into this. We were putting a lot of money into it and wanted to get the most out of it. We have 5 members. Everyone wanted to know something different. I wanted to know financial priorities. Another wanted to know how people thought we were presently doing. Another wanted input on reconfiguration. Another thought all of our ideas sounded great and had nothing to add. Get involved next time and maybe you’ll understand it better!
23 comments:
If anyone has a case for slander, sounds like Turny dropped it right into Mrs. Gunter's lap.
I think both you and Mrs Gunter are doing a fabulous job, you are repersenting the WHOLE communtiy and not just 1 samll section. You both have worked hard and it had paid off. Keep up the EXCELLENT work, WE THE FALLS SUPPORT YO BOTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Barb Gunter resign? How dare anyone ask for that when she merely stated her opinion. She IS entitled to that and she doesn't have to agree with the troublesome threesome. Who said their evaluation of Dr. Holland is the "fair" evalaution? The only "fair" evalution is the average of all five BOE members scores. I think it should stand! I am glad we have two members on our BOE that refuse to be puppets and rubber stamps. Keep up the good work Kellie and Barb! November is coming and we will see the tides change. If anybody should be asked to resign it is Grimes and Dunphy! How many times have they broken the sunshine law and gotten away with it? How many times have they disregarded the views and desires of the taxpaying public they were elected to represent? Talk about unprofessional behavior at BOE meetings and outside of BOE meetings? I think they wrote the book on that. Let's ask for their resignations!!!!!!!! They should be the ones that are asked to resign, NOT BARB!
Barb resign? When monkey's fly out of my ass!!
My God, do they really think that this little dog and pony show made Barb look bad? All it does is show how out of touch they are with the true needs and feelings of this district. And how big of a asshole they are.
John John needs to buy a box of twinkies and split it with May May.
Now now children, I told you I wasn't putting up with personal insults. Roles as board members are one thing, twinkie lovin' is quite another.
If one is going to make public comments on another’s actions then one should do their homework and have their facts straight before they make their comments. The facts regarding this issue are public record and anyone wishing to state the facts could request them.
With regard to my vote on the salary raises, had one reviewed the minutes to the July 2006 BOE meeting they would have found that I was not present at said meeting. Had they reviewed the minutes of the June 2006 meeting it should be noted under member comments that I stated I would not be present at said July meeting (the audio tape of said meeting will have said comments). The following is an e-mail I sent to Mrs. Sines and Mr. Grimes regarding my feelings on the salary raises, and it was read at the July 2006 meeting before the vote on said raises. (A public records request for emails will produce the following.)
Curt and Kathryn,
Knowing that this action would most likely come forward in my absence I spoke to Fred Compton before I left for vacation. I ask if there was any bylaw or rule that would prohibit me form preparing a statement to be read in my absence. His response was there was not. I am asking that Curt the BOE president read this statement at the July 19, 2006 BOE meeting, when the motion for salary adjustments for the CEO and CFO is made. I am also asking that you not share my thoughts with anyone until that time. I trust that you will honor my request. If you have any questions you can reach me on my cell phone 330 206 7063.
Curt it is my hope that this will be tabled for a full board.
My statement is as follows:
I have discussed with the Board's attorney about the right
to have my thoughts stated in my absences regarding this action. My thoughts are as follows;
Both the CEO and CFO contracts allow for their salaries to be increased at anytime. There is no set date for increases to take place or be determined, as evaluations are. No other district employee has this opportunity available to them.
One year ago Project Recovery asked for and received major concessions from our 3 unions. Had the unions not stepped up Project Recovery would have failed. These union contracts are up for negotiation in just a short time. I believe these negotiations are critical to the future fiscal stability of our district. Therefore it is my conclusion that the union contracts be negotiated before any other salary increases are determined.
Thank you,
Barb Gunter
CFCSD Board Member
Now for the facts regarding the superintendent’s contract renewal. As for my comments, they were directed to my fellow board members and I thanked them for their time and hard work (again the audio tape is available through public records request). As for my yes vote, the contract was going to pass with or without my vote. I felt it important that certain contractual changes be made to said renewal contract. I agreed that if said changes were made then I would vote yes, it was and I stayed true to my word.
As for my quack quack, I think we all know the saying
If it looks like a duck, if it walks like a duck, and if it quacks like a duck…. then it’s a duck.
So let’s stack this up and look at it for what it truly is……did anyone see any ducks last Wednesday night?
I know that homework can be a time consuming beast, but a necessary evil. It can keep you up late at night as you read through page after page of information and facts, but if you’re going to get credit then do your home work.
Barb Gunter, you are one class act!
Thank you for for fighting so hard for what is right.
Sorry Mr.Public but "that don't impress me much"!!!!
Why does this fall on Mrs. Gunter's head? "Mr. Black Tiger" tried to leave the jungle twice, both times for self serving reasons. So she didn't give him high marks and he gets a score that keeps him in the jungle that he so PROUDLY ASKED TO STAY IN. The question is "Who really wants to be KING OF THIS JUNGLE", and "STAY IN THIS JUNGLE NO MATTER WHO COMES ROARING"? IF it is "Mr. Black Tiger", then the next time the BIG CAT ROARS he will PURR LOUDLY that THIS JUNGLE FITS HIM JUST FINE. Let this fall on the head it belongs on, and it is not the ONLY person who voted NO to trying to hide the truth. Makes you wonder WHO is telling the truth.
It is my experience that when someone is aked to resign that is a sign of the excellence job they are doing. Mrs Gunter and Ms Patterson keep up the excellence work.
I saw that Steve Fuller wrote an article in the Falls News stressing that we need consistency in the BOE and that the minority has been a problem.
Mr. Fuller seems like a pretty nice man but I have to think about how he was the President of the BOE when all of the financial problems hit us in 2005 and everyone was trying to point a finger of blame before they settled on Paul Wulff. I also think about how Mr. Fuller is talking about running for Mayor of Silver Lake. Call me cynical, but I am not sure if his opinion is fair and balanced.
On another topic, I agree with you J James. When John (politician wanna be) Turney and Steve Fuller (former BOE President during financial crises and politician wanna be) asks you to resign, you are probably on the right track.
Mike Bennett
Kellie, I am a first time blogger and I enjoy your comments. I especially like the John-bashing in your latest entry. I just want you to know that you are wrong on a couple of things though. First off, you are wrong about him not having children, he has a daughter named Alexi, who lives with her mother in a house that he owns in Stow. He pays for everything for them, but never sees his daughter, by choice. He is really kind of an ass about all of it, he does just enough to not feel guilty, but does little enough to deny her existence. I guess it does not look good on his presidential resume to have a child out of wed-lock. I am not sure how he is gonna hide this one. Barb, don't take any of what he says personally, he is a sad, despicable human being. Not exactly the golden boy that everybody likes to think...
Turny wants to tell someone that they are "of no use to the children of this community, that they have lost all objectivity" but denies the existence of his own child.
Megs, the truth is that Summit County tax and court records show that Turney doesn't own any real estate and has never had a child support order filed.
If any part of what you say is true, it is very sad indeed. But, unless you're just trying to stir up trouble for Turney or Patterson, you should probably offer a little more fact to back up what you say.
I have seen it all now. What on earth does a real estate record or a child support order have to do with any member of the public running for the board. Talk about stirring it up for Turney. Shame on you for even looking in to that let alone posting that you looked in to his background.
Kellie you are always talking about your right to speak your mind on subjects, and have done so without caring what people say. You do do because of your right to free speach. To bad it seems to only apply to you. Mr Turny has the right as a U.S. citizen to express his opinion. What difference does it make if he owns a home here, or pays property taxes in cuyahoga falls. He is a citizen of cuyahoga falls and therefore has a right to speak. He graduated from the cuyahoga falls school system so why is his opinion not important. If truth be told, you may have children in the school district, but since you do not work, then your significant other who works is making the money that pays the taxes. Johns parents own property and pay city property taxes. Kellie you like to see yourself in print, and your group of followers like to see it and theirselves in print. Maybe if less time was spent "informing" people of what was going on and more time spent on constructive things more would get done. If people want to know what is going on in the district, then let them go to the board meetings and hear for themselves what is going on and make their OWN decisions on the subjects if they are capable to. If you are representing the WHOLE community as arist-cat says then John is a part of that community. You are so quick to point out other peoples faults and mistakes, why not be constructive instead of distructive in your comments.
Has all of this negative talk made anything better, or has it caused more conflict when working together is what is needed???
You are so quick to judge and condem administration and teachers and you have not walked in their shoes, so how do you know what their job is like and the responsibility that it carries. Teachers are working toward masters degrees, do you realize how much that costs them, and they care for your children daily and help to mold their lives and minds. Do you want just anyone doing that ??? Do you not want them to be the best and have all the knowledge they need to do their jobs. But lets not pay them for the jobs they do, lets tell them they just need to make do....
If you were truly trying to make things better for all of us, then you would spend more time buliding not tearing down. More positive than negative.
If we did what Kellie thinks is best with levies, then we would be in fiscal emergency and the state would be taking over, then there would be no need for a school board, because the state would make all the decisions. Why don't you put out to the public how levies work and how the money comes. Explain when the money is aquired and that a renewal is just that no NEW tax just renewing the one already in place.....
Building not tearing down....I would love to see constructive insights into the future of our district not what is wrong with this one or that one or the fact that you don't like Ed Holland because he closed your childs school. Where were you before this?? Until they decided to close your childs school, no one had ever heard of you or your opinions.
The school board members are so busy with their own agenda that they have forgotten their jobs as members. You ,(all of you) are to be working together to create a better school district. Its to bad that your personal agendas have gotten in the way. You as a whole are ineffective. Nothing stands a chance. Its always us against them. Stop and take a look at what you have created. Lets hear more on what is being done to make the district better, books, teachers, and children. What kind of example does all of this negative attitudes does this set for our children. Children learn what they live and what they see in their elders who have a responsibility to show them the way. I think our school district is a good one, and would like to see it better, but this is not the way. We need to support our teachers and staff and if their are conflicts then lets solve them in a constructive way, so that we can be proud of what we have accomplished. Our teachers deserve no less than our support,our respect and praise. It is national teachers week,a teacher made a difference in your life, thank our teachers for makin a difference in our childrens lives. Write a letter to the editor praising them and thanking them for the job they do. Lets see more of that and less of this stuff. They have said you have worked hard and it has paid off... how has it paid off ???? Have you made a difference in our district, or is their more confict and seperation ????
RU For Real- I would have to agree with you. Unsubstantiated claims designed to attack someone or stain their image is wrong. I will say, from a hypothetical standpoint, if I were planning to run for high office one day; and I had this as a skeleton in my closet (it would be impossible to hide when big press gets wind of it,); I would not want it to be true. Since Mr. Turny always portrays himself as holding some sort of moral high ground, it would not be good for this to be true especially with him pontificating about what parents should or shouldn’t do.
Concerned Citizen – So we can only write or speak out about things that YOU deem OK, is that what I am hearing in your comments? It is OK for John Turny to go after Barb and insult her with incorrect information and political grandstanding but it is not OK for Kellie to blog about it and set the record straight?
Yes, you are right about Mr. Turny having a right to express his opinions just as I have the right to say that he is a politician wanna be and I don’t like the grandstanding.
Concerned Citizen – throughout the history of this blog, I have seen you comment very negatively so why is it OK for you to do so but no one else? Who elected you King/Emperor or Queen/Empress of this blog spot? I admit I am negative. It bothers me when overall student enrollment has gone down over the past 15 years but we have more administrators. It bothers me that we are paying an administrator over $80,000 a year plus benefits and then we have to hire outside consultants, put them on contract, because this particular administrator has no expertise in his or her job and need help doing it. This is a waste and it is a problem with any government institution and has to be stopped. This tax and spend policy will no longer work when the average family is struggling to get by.
I don’t recall Kellie ever being against the teachers or being negative towards them. I, for one, think that every bit of cash we can save in cutting spending should go to the teachers. They are the only worthwhile resource we have.
If your goal is to get people to work together, you tell me how to accomplish that with the above problems. When you have 2 people trying to accomplish something and 3 others who want to keep with the status quo and protect a Superintendent even though he is trying to leave, you have problems. You show me facts and figures where the BOE majority has shown fiscal responsibility. I am not talking about digging yourself out of financial problems after passing TWO levies to do it. I am talking about real fiscal responsibility where you are balancing a budget during a true crisis and no new money coming in. Wise cuts in spending and not blowing money on a bus garage after selling a school. Did you ever see any kind of five (5) year plan at the time that Sill and Newberry were closed? Holland and Rump really didn’t have one. They should get one going now though. I think the Gravy Train has left the station.
Mike B.
Yeah! What Mike said!
If what has been said here is true then Mr. Turny repersents what is wrong with a large portion of our society. Just paying child support is not enought, he has fathered a child now he should be a father to his child. If you want to play in the grown up world then be a grown up. How can someone who denies his own child be of any use to the children of this district or this country that he so desperately wants to serve. Take responsibilty for your actions.
I want to start by saying that this will be my one and only comment that I will ever post on this blog. In response to the very sad comments that have been posted, I would like to state for the record that I have never fathered an illegitimate child. I greatly value family and a nurturing environment for all children. I sincerely hope that one day God will bless me with my own children, but until that time I will do everything in my power to advocate and improve lives of all the children in our community. That includes doing what is necessary to protect and advocate for the best interest of the school district that has given me so much. With that being said, I would like to address the speculation that my comments at the April 18, Board Meeting were supposed to be some sort of launching pad for me to again run for school board. I would like to end that speculation by saying that I WILL NOT be running for the Board this Fall, period. I do hope that we get some highly qualified, highly motivated individuals to step up to the plate and run. I hope that these individuals realize that will be responsible for representing the entire electorate, not just the people that vote for them, but the people that vote against them as well. More importantly I hope that they realize that first and foremost they are responsible for representing the people who don’t have a vote at all, the kids. Lastly, I would like to address one individual’s comments about “moral high ground.” I am reminded of a quote that said “…morality is not something that we can turn on and off, it is something that lives inside of us everyday, it is an essential part of who and what we are and what we will become…” (That may sound a little on the preachy side, but appropriate non-the-less.)
With that being said, I would like to make a deal with (mike_b) and everyone else, I will not make judgments about your character and integrity based upon whether or not I agree with your opinion as long as you afford me the same. I don't think that is too much to ask, or at least I hope it's not...
"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." ~Eleanor Roosevelt
Jon T - you made your judgment April 18th and now that the shoe is on the other foot you want to make a deal. How about some advice, think before you speak or you may put your foot and other body parts in your mouth and not be able to get them out. Please remember "that the people that have no vote, the kids", have parents or gaurdians that vote to elect people that they believe will produce actions that will be in the best interest of their children.
How can someone who works for us, was elected by us, be so against the school system???? Why did you take this job anyway? You do not help by all your negativity. Maybe you need to get out in the world and get a "real" job,and see how long they would put up with your bashing.
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