Since Debi Shimmin was elected to the school board, she's apparently gained additional informational resources or new insights into district operations and problems. Shimmin ran for office as a District Office/ Sprenger favorite daughter, but apparently now that she's been elected, she's working to think for herself. This ticks off some Robinson-supporters and/or Robinson suck-ups who now are throwing a big-time temper tantrum and organizing a recall.
This remind me of the "mob" getting someone elected, and then rubbing out that person because the elected official began to believe they actually should do what's best for the community vs. the special-interest bidding of the "mob."
CARES, the group behind this recall, apparently just cares about getting it's own way. Another sad day for the Lebanon Community School District.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
That's quite the assertion there, IE. Care to provide some evidence of the "additional information" that apparently NO ONE ELSE has?
How is Debi being a good board member when she approves a contract that commits the district to increased funding to a charter school without the benefit of prior knowledge of the contract terms and without legal advice? Whether the advice is the district counsel or an outside source. This seems to be blatantly irresponsible and dangerous. Now if you think she already knew the contents then there is the issue of violating public meeting rules.
It seems to me that instead of being open minded and thinking about the issues, she has been as knee jerk in her support as you accuse Sherrie in hers. No one is honest in saying they are looking at both sides of an issue if they consistently vote in one direction only.
I have said before that I believe all the board members should be removed from office. They are dysfunctional and unfair in their actions. Then maybe Mr. Robinson could get a fair evaluation, Sand Ridge could receive a unbiased review, and the district could move forward.
Since her election she probably, Dennis, has talked with other constituents who have different views on issues than the Sprenger/Robinson group. One would think this would happen if the elected person has an open mind...They might see a more broad view, after exposure to constituents who disagree.
Did Sprenger/Robinson recruit her to run? Some of us have presumed so (given the signage during the campaign, etc. and their apparent coalition).
Think of it like this: High school student raised by conservative Republican parents generally (not always) adopt their parent's political views (assuming they get along with their parents, but sometimes even when they don't). These students graduate, and if they go on to college, they are sometimes exposed to a wider-variety of points of view in their college studies, and their views can shift more towards the center or even more to the left on the political spectrum...they may even become liberal democrats.
I don't think she has additional information that NO ONE ELSE HAS. That comment sounds pretty conspiritorial to me.
I think we've muddied the waters pretty well here.
I think there's a distinction between the type of information I'm talking about - information on district policies, practices, and the relevant law - and the opinions of anti-Robinson constituents. Certainly the latter is also information, but I fail to see how minding the will of one's constituents leads one to do things like illegally suspend the Superintendent and vote to approve a contract that almost no one has seen.
If Debi's constituents have information of the type I'm thinking of - policies and practices of the district, or specific instances of bad behavior on the part of Robinson - then such information should be made public and used as evidence by Debi to justify her votes. Simply asserting that someone told Debi something bad about Robinson and that you can't repeat it, but that we all should trust her, is a very poor way to behave for a public official. It's undemocratic and shows no respect for just about anyone else.
CARES doesn't "care"? I assume if they get the 2,000 signatures all of those signers don't "care" about Lebanon schools either, eh?
"Simply asserting that someone told Debi something bad about Robinson and that you can't repeat it, but that we all should trust her, is a very poor way to behave for a public official. It's undemocratic and shows no respect for just about anyone else."
Dennis, this makes no sense whatsoever. I am speculating, and I think I made that clear, that Debi is now considering the anti-Robinson point of view. I sincerely doubt someone told her some deep-dark Robinson secret that the rest of us don't know: I hadn't even thought of that. It is interesting that that's the conclusion you jump to.
Anonymous -- The piece about having all the board members resign is frightening, because my understanding is new board members would be appointed by the ESD Superindentent, who reportedly has ties to Robinson. So I would imagine those new appointments would be people who would vote to keep him around after all.
If there were a way for all five positions to be open for election all at once and soon, I could consider this a good option, assuming Robinson also moved on to another job or retirement. That would indeed, present a clean slate with a potential of a more positive future for this community.
Another recall effort is just more hate and negativity, that the Robinson-lovers in the past decried. Now, they are behind one themselves.
I went there because I can think of no other reason for Debi to vote the way she has. Certainly the information available to me does not lead me to understand why she would vote to suspend Robinson or approve the PIE contract.
If the anti-Robinson point of view does not include information I don't have access to, can you explain to me a) what that point of view consists of, and b) how that point of view justifies voting to suspend Robinson and/or voting to approve the PIE contract? I'm just not getting the connection.
Gosh Dennis...How many times do I have to post that Robinson needed to be suspended due to a pattern of disrespectful and authoritarian behavior to much of the public and to many teachers.
Did you see the photos of all the people in the crowd who felt the same way at that meeting? If you recall, there were so many of them that the meeting had to be moved to the high school auditorium.
Yeah..yeah...I've heard the "he's changed," comments, but people I speak with when I am out and about in this community tell me otherwise.
I bet if OEA took that "No confidence" vote AGAIN tomorrow, it'd be even HIGHER than the 80-some percent no-confidence vote it was before.
When you have a superindentent who rolls his eyes when the board members he dislikes speak, (OK so they do it too...but he his supposed to be their employee), it sure doesn't look like he's "changed."
Nothing will change for the better here until we hire a completely new, and I mean completely new, DO top administrative crew, and yes we indeed may need a new slate of board members as well for us to being to heal. But I only can consider that as a good option if there is a way to have a special election vs. have them appointed by the ESD.
Dennis, Robinson has been good to you...You were able to get a credential to substitute, which he needed to support for that to happen. I am glad he did that because I sense you are probably a better-than-average sub, though I'm going on my gut feeling there and have no "facts" to back that up.
I know...I know....you are not making decisions about views on the district administration based on how good it has been to you...and I am sure you aren't basing your opinions completely on that, but most of us ARE impacted by how we have personally been treated -- it's human nature.
Robinson has not been nice to a significant number of community members, teachers, and several board members.
"Gosh Dennis...How many times do I have to post that Robinson needed to be suspended due to a pattern of disrespectful and authoritarian behavior to much of the public and to many teachers."
Can you explain, preferably using something from Robinson's contract, district policy, or ORS/OAR/Oregon Department of Education policy why a lack of collegiality is grounds for suspension?
For example, just how mean does someone have to be before suspension is warranted? How long should the suspension be? And isn't suspension by itself just punitive? Shouldn't the suspending authority provide some kind of criteria for improvement?
I'm not against doing something in a case like this, but I've seen very little evidence presented in public that's not a reference to some conversation or event that no one is willing to cite in any detail. If there have been specific instances in which Robinson behaved poorly, then the board members should be able to say "I voted to suspend Robinson because he said X, did Y, and wrote Z on such-and-such dates and in regards to such-and-such a person." I've just never seen that happen - it's all references to a pattern of poor behavior, with people claiming they can't possibly speak openly in public. I just don't buy that anymore, not with Debi, Rick and Josh on the board. It's way past time to start putting forth hard evidence in public and building a case that way.
As for the LEA no-confidence vote, that's useless as evidence. If it was such a sure thing, then why doesn't the LEA just do it again? I understand that there was a vote taken four years ago, but there has been huge turnover since then. Both because of that and because of the time that's passed (oh, and also because the situation in the district is very, very different now), I don't think anyone can make any kind of blanket claim regarding where the majority of teachers in Lebanon stand. No one, probably not even KF, has that kind of knowledge.
Oh, and implying that I have benefited from Robinson any more than any other person hired in the district since he got here is a little disingenuous, don't you think? I met all the requirements to apply for a temp sub license, and I met all the requirements to be placed in the district's sub system. There was no reason not to hire me, so I was hired. I've never spoken to Jim Robinson or Steve Kelley... and I have opinions about how subbing is handled in the LCSD, but those can be saved for a different post.
Anonymous May 31, 9:04 p.m. -- No, if 2,000 people sign the recall petition, then 2,000 people think the community should vote on the issue of whether or not to recall Debi.
Anonymous May 31 1:28 p.m. -- But could it be Debi voted the way she did on the amendments because, given her knowledge as a board member of PIE issues, they simply made sense to her? I don't know that it was necessarily a "knee jerk" reaction: I('m not jumping to that conclusion.
Post a Comment