When the city fire marshal shows up, you know it’s a huge crowd. An estimated 500 people jammed Bridgeport City Council chambers Wednesday night vehemently shouting down Mayor Bill Finch’s first budget that calls for dramatic cuts to the library, school nurses and dental hygienists.
A half dozen city police officers also showed up for crowd control. Mayor Finch was not in attendance.
Police and fire officials, along with City Council President Tom McCarthy and Budget and Appropriations co-chair Bob Curwen, urged the crowd to spread out to maximize all corners of the council chambers. Some of the crowd was redirected to the second floor wings overlooking the council chambers.
Councilman Rich Paoletto told OIB that he had never seen a crowd as big or as raucous during his seven years on the council. “The amount of people speaks volumes,” Paoletto said. “People speaking on behalf of children was the resounding theme. I have never seen anger to this extent.”
Most of the hostility was directed at Finch who had pledged to cut taxes $600 as a candidate for mayor, but now has proposed to raise them by the same amount with more than 100 job eliminations.
Bridgeport Board of Education employees came out in force, as well as library workers, looking at pink slips. Many speakers, city employees, were enraged at Finch’s characterization calling their services to the city as non-essential.
Russo Calls For BOE Audit
Okay, now we’re cooking. Republican State Sen. Rob Russo is calling on the Bridgeport Board of Education to submit to a forensic audit and management study of the city school system. Russo authored a letter to City Council President Tom McCarthy that was introduced into record at the public hearing on the city budget Wednesday night at the city council chambers. Russo, who says the city school system will receive the highest proportional state funding in history, is trying to line up state money to perform the audit. See his letter below. Meanwhile, Mayor Bill Finch, in a statement, is criticizing the Board of Education for scare tactics. Finch press release will follow Russo’s letter.
April 9, 2007
The Honorable Thomas C. McCarthy, Council President
Bridgeport City Council
Office of Legislative Services
999 Broad Street
Bridgeport, CT 06604To the Members of the City Council:
Upon reading today’s “Connecticut Post”, I want to take a moment to share my concerns regarding the Bridgeport Board of Education budget. I am concerned anytime I hear a school in my district is threatened with closing, but I am particularly alarmed in this instance considering the substantial increase in funding that the City of Bridgeport has received this year.Connecticut’s children are my top priority as State Senator. However, I am conscious of the fact that as we increase school funding, we also need to increase accountability.
I do not understand how the Bridgeport Board of Education is facing a nightmare situation considering that total education funding is increasing this year by more than $10 million. The Governor, at the urging of the City Delegation, recently approved one of the largest increases in State Education Cost Sharing (ECS) funding for Bridgeport in the history of the formula. Funding for Bridgeport schools increases $9.5 million in FY08 and is scheduled to increase another $7 million in FY09. On top of that, the City of Bridgeport has increased its contribution to education $1 million this year.
Historically the city has short-changed our schools and this increase does not even come close to contributing what we should, but it is forward progress. Given these substantial funding increases, how can the budget options facing the Board of Education be as dire as board members believe? Can the Board give its assurance that $164 million in education aide from the State of Connecticut is being spent efficiently?
Before the Board of Education starts threatening to close schools, scaring parents and teachers, they need to first articulate how the funding they claim they need to prevent a “nightmare” will be spent.
Of course, we will never know for sure until the Board of Education submits to a thorough and independent forensic audit and management study. I intend to make funding for this audit one of my top priorities. The people of Bridgeport have a right to know how their money is being spent, and considering more than 80% of our education funding is paid for by the state, the citizens of Connecticut have a right to know as well.
The Board of Education works hard to provide a quality education for each and every one of Bridgeport’s children and I admire their hard work. However, I am disappointed they felt the need to scare parents and teachers with the threat of school closings without a detailed explanation.
Sincerely,
Robert D. Russo
State Senator, 22nd District
Bridgeport, Monroe, Trumbull
Finch criticizes Board of Education. Finch statement below:
Mayor Releases Statement on FY 2008-2009 Budget
Mayor Bill Finch released the following statement today regarding the Fiscal Year 2008-2009 Budget:
“I am proposing the first transparent budget in many years. This is a fiscally responsible budget that reflects regulatory requirements, core operations and those services essential to meeting the goals of my administration. Core operations such as Police and Fire Services, Education Funding and Public Health and Sanitation will always receive first priority in budgeting decisions as maintaining and securing the health and safety of our residents is central to the prosperity of our city.“This budget includes difficult cuts affecting most departments in city government. It increases spending for the Board of Education significantly and builds capacity in our Office of Planning and Economic Development. Including debt payments for school construction and improvement which totaled $125 million last year alone, this Board of Education budget represents the biggest single increase to any department in city government.
“The reality is that not a single teacher should be laid off. Not a single school needs to be closed. The Board of Education and its administrators are playing political games with our City’s children and it’s wrong. As a public school parent myself I feel passionately about education and I call upon the Board of Education to act responsibly in these tough times. I am also fully committed to seeking a solution to keep our school-based health clinics in operation.
“As a public school parent, I am proud to have dedicated this money in our budget to our schools and education system. I will work tirelessly for the next four years to bring more accountability to Board of Education spending in Bridgeport.”
The recommended budget for FY 2008-2009 provides for health care growth and workers’ compensation growth in the Board of Education, unemployment compensation for Board of Education employees and $2.4 million for general use by the Board of Education. In addition, the budget allocates $125,000 for the City’s share of a comprehensive management audit of the Board of Education. This audit is an essential step in the separation and accountability of the Board of Education.
They are closing Black Rock school…where will we vote?
They won’t close that school, just another BOE scare tactic to try to rob the taxpayers of more money for their b.s. Good for you Russo and Finch, its about damn time they got audited. They truly are Ali Baba and the 40 thieves and they should be ashamed of themselves. Get rid of their overpaid overstaffed assistants in that office, cut their press secretary and their condsultants and whatever else is unnecessarty – its just awful the way they keep insisting on more and more money. Ramos should be fired.
By the way, Russo is the new kid on the block in Hartford and he’s taking a stand against the B-port BOE already. Where are the other moaners like the corruption king Caruso and the other hacks, why didn’t they step up to the plate to get the ball rolling? i suppose its just easier to complain or do nothing than to take action. It gives them more to finger point and whine about. Russo impressed me!
I’m a true democrat who will be voting for Himes or Hillary/Obama in November but I like the way Russo is conducting his work and he might just get my vote in November.
I’m a democrat too but I will keep my eye on Russo. If this is how proactive he is right now, he will probably get better and better. Funny how it took a republican new-comer to take a stand on the BOE issue already. At least he recognized the problem right away and took action, this BOE has been getting away with murder for years, where has everyone else been? And good for Finch taking a stand right up front too, Ganim and Fabrizi let them get away with it.
Go Russo! Keep the bastards honest.
I agree Russo is doing a good job by doing this and good for Finch for standing up…when I heard that Black Rock was going to close I was going crazy and so was everyone around here…we need to get rid of the board of ed…I’m voting all democrat this year except I will be voting for Russo at least he cares about Bpt I have to say thank you Russo.
Summer wind, I think its wayyyyyy too late to keep the BOE honest. How much do they pay their press secretary -$70K to panic the public? All it is was a scam to try to convince the taxpapers they need more money. Time to get fired for that one! Come on Finch, show them who’s boss! That might even teach them a lesson, and shame on Medina for allowing this to take place.
Hi City Kitty
I’m sorry I hit a wrong key when I posted the BOE spokesperson only made $ 70,000.00 a year to speak, it should have been $ 9,000.00 more………Hummm that’s $ 79,000.00
I hope Russo will expose all this kind of patronage abuse and get rid of it.
Hey Wondering, there’s your Republican leader. How long has Russo been in office? He joined mid-session and he’s already going for an audit that should have been done years ago. There’s a breath of fresh air. A Bridgeport politician who is actually going to bring on positive change. Now let’s all get behind him and demand that audit. Write the Post, call your elected officials, and support Russo and this audit.
$79,000??? for what? Fire that person, and save a few jobs for the little guys. Yeh, call those deadbeat state reps too, where have they been during all this BOE theivery for all those years? Time for a “house” cleaning.
Kudos to Rob Russo for speaking out on this latest BOE fiasco. This is exactly what I was talking about yesterday. Today there are a few of the incumbents wondering why they did not speak out about the BOE. It took a freshman republican Senator to do it. Maybe just maybe there will be a 2 party system in Bridgeport again.
Donj if they close the school maybe the people in BR could vote at the art center.
Well the kids and the parents had there say last night. Ramos and the BOE got there scare tactic message out. i have to wonder where these parents are and where the BOE is when you learn the test scores for Bpt and you learn that 68% of the kids in high school drop out. Where were the people asking why we pay 120 School Administrators $13,000,000 in salaries and that dos not include benefits. The average salary for an administrator is $108,333. here is my message to the teachers and administrators if you can make more money produce the same BAD results and keep your job and do better somewhere else please go there because you have done a lousy job here.
To Medina and the rest of the robber barons keep the new schools closed I dare you. in fact sell them to a private developer and let him open it as housing or a mini mall and rec center. i dont care. Until you account for your spending habits I would not give you any increases.
The audit is not a new idea and it sure as heck isn’t Russo’s innovation. Rell has been sending 10’s of millions of dollars a year more to Hartford’s smaller school system. It’s got nothing to do with corruption and everything to do with keeping money closer to her home base.
So Russo is proposing something but has nothing right now to pay for it? Hmph. Maybe he should consider switching to a Democrat.
Maybe Russo doesn’t understand the budget because his time was simply too valuable to serve as a councilperson. Being a councilperson is for poor people.
Nope, it’s straight to the Senate after college for Mr. Russo.
If his presence doesn’t loosen up Jodi’s tight purse strings for the Park City then it’ll be back to Mr. Russo’s Southport law firm.
There wouldn’t be a tax increase this year if we had as much money as Hartford gets. There would be a TAX DECREASE. Rell sucks for Bridgeport. So long as Rell sucks so does Russo.
Bring home some money or just put that platinum spoon back in your mouth.
“Anna, just one more thing girl. If you give back your ring to me, I will set you free, go with Yahooy.”
Little paraphrase of a Beatles song.
Not all that bad. She, too, can be right sometimes. Rell, with her June Cleaver persona, really hasn’t done much for the state. It was refreshing to have a girl scout leader come in after the Rowland mess. Her sweet smile and matronly manner was what we looked for. Basically she is an absentee Governor, hardly at her desk. She’s going to have a real tough time next election…if she runs. So, Russo and Caruso are going to have to figure out who the actual centers of power are and start making deals for us.
Summer Wind
There is this amazing product on the market called BEANO. You should try it.
Wow, it’s because of people like anna we are stuck with this same old crap in BPT. The audit may not be Russo’s invention, but why is he the first Bridgeport politician to make a serious move to get one? Caruso went to the City Council meeting last night and complained about the cuts to the CT Post, but why has he never gotten an audit? He’s been in there for years. Russo just got in, he doesn’t even have a regular session to participate in, and he’s already making more progress than any of these guys. There was another article in the Post about how the Democrats in Hartford are trying to block him from getting on committees, yet he’s still doing more than anyone else. Say what you want, he’s a hard worker. What about the city council? I heard them complain about the proposed cuts, but did they offer any solutions? Did they support the audit? At least Finch called out the BOE and pushed the audit. It’s people like anna who get us nowhere in this city.
Good for Russo and his call for a forensic audit. But why bash Caruso? Had he been elected mayor the audit would be occuring right now. Also, good for all the people who turned out last night. But how many of them either voted the straight DTC endorsed ticket or didn’t bother to vote at all last year?
When most people don’t vote or just blindly vote a straight ticket, this is what we get.
I remember the City Council trying to hold back 250K of ECS money for a match of audit monies and I remember BCAC and the BOE screaming bloody murder over it…along with Blab Walsh.
Where were Russo and Caruso then? Russo was humping coeds at Fordham on daddy’s dime and Caruso was backing up BCAC.
Yahooy is right (urgh….urgh…) The Governor does nothing for Bridgeport. The state took over Hartford’s school system, pumping tons of money into it. All the while it was getting more money than Bridgeport–tens of millions more.
Now the legislature is going to pump 100m more the system over the desegregation lawsuit and pay for more magnet schools to boot.
Rell hasn’t done jack for Bridgeport. Russo has already made progress?? Name one single tangible thing that is different about Bridgeport now. Name one single thing. One…excepting that Russo wrote a letter. Show me some bridge repairs and ECS reform and fair PILOT monies and bonding approvals and then I’ll sing you charms.
In short, SHOW US THE MONEY!
BTW: Does the state Republican Party still insist on its website that the cityies get TOO MUCH MONEY for education…or have they changed their tune?
Does Russo agree with his party? I wish the Republicans weren’t anti-urban, classist and ignorant of sustainable economic principles. I might vote for one if they were…but they aren’t.
and the federal party…McCain???
Give me C-D-B-G…not I-R-A-Q!
I can’t stand it when Anna and I agree. It’s unamerican. I can’t even stand to write her name on these blogs. From now on I’m going to spell it backwards.
Yoohay to that!
This is only Finch’s FIRST budget, meaning it is proposed. It’s not the final budget. He ain’t going to raise taxes, he ain’t going to close no schools. After the turnout at City Hall the other night I’d be surprised if he would be willing to raise his hand or close a closet door. This is a time-honored tactic employed by governors and big-city mayors for centuries. Proposing higher taxes and school closings simply gets the attention of department heads that think belt-tightening is only for Weight Watchers clients.
Prediction: The audit, a great, common-sense idea that’s long overdue, will never happen, because it would reveal the Board of Ed for the cesspool of patronage and waste that it’s been for the past 30 years, and the boys certainly don’t want that! Yep, Only in Bridgeport!
He actually got a $120,000 grant for the PILOT program last week, check his website. Also, if you read the letter at the top he did get an increase in ECS funding, it’s up $9.5 million this year, and next year it goes up another $7 million. And mind you, tomorrow is April 11th, one month since his election.
I guess you’re just resorting to ridiculous attacks because the opposition is actually pushing some change in this city. You stick with the guys who gave us the $16 million dollar hole in our budget, the ridiculous tax breaks for their buddies, increases in our taxes, and this BOE catastrophe, and I’ll stick with the guy who’s already making the right moves to fix it all.
If there was an increase to the ECS funding it was because of the formula and thecurrent budget. If we elected Yahooy there still would have been an increase. An increase…and gross disparity that Rell doesn’t want to rock the boat over.
That means that Hartford got more and so did New Haven, again….much, much more than Bridgeport. Continuing to fund those other two cities disproportionately and see what happens to you…ahem, I mean Rob.
There wouldn’t be a 16 million dollar hole in the budget if we received the 30 or so million more Hartford gets EVERY YEAR and a cut of their lush bonding to boot so that we might start building the tax base.
120K in PILOT $? Tell your former boss…ahem, I mean Rob’s former boss to pay out PILOTs like they are legally required to.
Tell Rell to pay her taxes in Bridgeport before she builds another riverfront jail…which BTW has been her biggest investment in B-Po to date. I think that happened while you…ahem, I mean Rob…worked for her.
No?
GOOD GRIEF LENNIE!
I heard that even though Richie Paoletto is not going to run against Caruso that his goatee is still going ahead with the race!
GOOD GRIEF LENNIE!
I just heard that Richie Paoletto’s goatee just got into a fight with Carlos Silva’s goatee!
GOOD GRIEF LENNIE!
Oh my gosh. Carlos’s goatee. It’s…sniff…it’s…DEAD!
THE HORROR!!!
Thanks Bob, an audit of the BOE is a must. We’ve been promised it for as many years as I can remember and at last we may get it. Can’t wait to see what it reveals. – Although I doubt that it will surprise. City Kitty, your analysis is right on.
A 16 million dollar HOLE, Rob? Don’t you mean a 16 million dollar MOLE????
P.S.
Tom, I would like to purchase an actual human being. I’ve never owned a person before. Please let me know if you can be of any assistance in this matter.
Can someone please explain to me what a “forensic audit” is and who would exactly would perform a “forensic audit” on a large municipality’s Board of Education.
I think I know what it is…and it seems that B-Po’s politicians are consistently misusing the term because it sound sharp.
A forensic audit is when you put a person inside an institution to investigate…like a MOLE perhaps.
P.P.S.S-
Mr. McCarthy…myself and my Rich Uncle Pennybags (you know him as Mr. Monopoly) will be going on vacation soon after my busy senatorial season comes to a close.
If you cannot find me a real human being to purchase perhaps you might be able to suggest a suitable location where I might be able to beagle and musket some poor people.
Senator Moneybags-
Perhaps I might suggest as it is important that you be able to get Bridgeport votes that you refrain from beagling and musketting poor people (at least until your second term.)
Perhaps it might be more advantageous for you to come hunt up in New London. There are a tremendous amount of MOLES up here to hunt.
The definition of Forensic Accounting is listed as”Forensic auditing could be defined as the application of auditing skills to situations that have legal consequences.”
Hope this helps.
Legal consequences? I’m not sure who would have that authority but the city will most certainly need a MOLE for that!
Monsuier Yahooy,
I would like very much anna to touch my baguette.
Legal consequences could mean the feds if Federal money is involved. State police and local police if state or city funds are involved. Or it could mean that they are just wasting money period. Audits are serious things but are necessary when large amounts of money are involved. I am not sure nor do i know if the BOE has ever been audited
The Feds usually audit their grants. Googled some stuff…I guess it seems plausible.
Just make sure none of Ernie Newton’s friends get the contract!
You will all feel the vengeance of the mole, the troll, and the cannolo very, very soon…
Joe Celli’s Mole:
You want me to hunt MOLES?? Aren’t those those things that I have the poor people pull out of my lawn at my home in Fairfield…I mean Bridgeport…Brooklawn that is, for all of my GOP friends out there.
I kid…I don’t live in Bridgeport. It’s…um….Stratfield. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
In Public Accounting there are three types of audits (1) genrl routine to make sure the financial statements of an entity are prepared in accordance Generally Accepted Accounting Practices GAAP. (2) An operational audit by which the auditors will exam the practices and procedures employed by an entity looking for ineffective methodologies, duplication of efforts, or other procedural practices that will not be cost effective and (3) the forensic audit. Just as we know forensics from all of the CSI shows a forensic audit specifically looks for malfeasance or the potential for malfeasance. Typically a forensic audit is employed once a general or operational audit identifies irregularities that may be or could be of a criminal nature.
In my opinion, we don’t need a forensic audit at this time. But I do strongly believe that we should engage an independent firm to perform a detailed operational audit.
A forensic audit wouldn’t reveal much. Ganim and Newton didn’t get caught with their hands in the municipal treasury. They were convicted of taking money from others for favored treatment.
A general audit could show that our tax department, for example, is not putting all of the collected funds in the bank. They deal with a lot of cash transactions. I’m not saying they do. Just an example. Vital statistics collects cash as does the kid who sits in Seaside Park collecting parking fees. Beyond that where else do we deal in cash. A very routine audit would reveal discrepancies in those and like areas if they exist. Then we could go whole hog forensically.
Well done, aboost, thank you!
I still think that a general audit would be more effective if the city hired A MOLE!
MOLE-AY MOLE-AY!
Bridgeport schools may need more than just a simple “forensic audit”.
Forensic audits are a type of financial review generally used to investigate fraud or misappropriation of funds. Forensic audits focus on the use of accounting/financial data for “evidentiary” purposes. But this type of audit probably won’t provide the necessary, revealing look into the operations of the Bridgeport BOE.
Sure, taxpayers have a right to know that dollars allocated to the BOE are not being mismanaged or worse, misappropriated. But they also have a right to know that the BOE is giving taxpayers and students maximum VALUE for their money. That means looking at educational RESULTS… and the costs associated with achieving those results.
What Bridgeporters deserve, is an answer to a very basic question: is the BOE effective in providing top quality education for students, at an affordable cost to taxpayers. Horrific test scores, deplorable graduation rates and huge amounts of money spent, certainly don’t inspire confidence in the BOE’s past or present performance. This year’s budget debate simply highlights the need for answers… and the need for change.
So let’s get on with the audit…but make sure it looks at operational as well as financial and accounting issues. Get on with the audit…but make sure it looks at issues of organization, administration, compensation and job redundancy. Get on with the audit…but make sure it looks at issues of teacher performance, motivation and retention. Get on with the audit…but make sure it looks at benefit costs (“entitlements”) in today’s and tomorrow’s dollars.
And lastly, get on with the audit but make sure it evaluates the match-up between Bridgeport’s school curricula and real-world career options for all our students.
So who’s accountable for getting this done?
Thank you, Aboost. I was considering answering the question myself but I was afraid of being accused of being to negative when it comes to auditors. The general audit is geared more towards determining that there are controls in place that the controls are being followed and that generally accepted accounting principles are being adhered to. And that there do not appear to be any material discrepancies in the financial statements that are prepared. In this type of audit, a significant amount of sampling is done. In an accounts payable systems, maybe 100 invoices will be selected at random and reviewed through out the process to make sure that all proper approvals were obtained, the entries to record the invoice were made to the correct department and account and that the invoice and back-up is retrievable for review. If there were problems with 10% of this sample another 100 invoices might be reviewed.
The forensic audit is much more detailed and transactional in nature. If there was reason to believe that there was a problem with school construction, the audit would begin with reviewing all bids that were issued to determine that they were not written in such a way to influence the selection of a certain contractor. All invoices for that given project would be reviewed. And significant time would be spent on reviewing the approvals to determine not only that all of this was proper but to make sure that the materials needed to perform certain tasks were indeed received and work completed in sync with the payments. This type of audit is extremely more expensive then than most.
The operational or management audit reviews work flow, work processes, the management structure of an organization as well as the level of automation that is in place. Many people believe that this type of an audit will pay for it self by introducing new ways of doing things, by improving work flow, by streamlining the process and with greater automation or virtual processes. This too is an expensive proposition but not nearly as expensive as the forensic audit.
And this is normally where the talk of such an audit ends in the city of Bridgeport. The BOE says they have no problem with this being done; they just don’t have the money to do it. The city will say that they will pay for part of it but only if the BOE agrees to institute every recommendation and the city will say that they don’t need this type of audit because they do everything right. I have maintained (but no one ever follows through) that this can be done with bonded debt and paid for over a number of years. And paid for by the actual savings of the recommendations. But it’s all politics in the long run. Now if Mario had a friend who was into operational audits, maybe we’d see progress.
I think the notion that Rob Russo has done anything in Hartford is laughable. The Senate has been in session three times since his election. The ECS increase we got was from last year and it will not change this year. All the committee’s deadlines for legislation were past by the time he got up there. He hasn’t contributed anything other than to take swipes at Tom McCarthy and the City Council on Bridgeport Day.
And let’s think, why does the BOE not want audits? Perhaps it’s because they have something to hide. What’s Johnny Fabs doing to collect 110K plus salary?
It’s interesting how they are yelling we’re a sinking ship and they don’t want a qualified disinterested thrid party to tell them how to fix it.
I agree the budget appears harsh, no one wants to lose the library or school based health centers. (I think they are especially important in Bridgeport, you think we elected a Republican. They are always screaming why do we have to pay for someone else’s health care) I think until the BOE shows us the books they shouldn’t get any of the money allocated to them by the City. So if they really care about being lean and putting the money in the right places, they’d have no excuse other than to open up. Paging Dr. Ramos, what are you hiding in there? Or better yet who?
Maybe we should just say — Hartford take us over and put the problems in its lap. Their decreased funding for PILOTs is killing us, so why don’t we say… hey we are dead so you have to fix us now. Maybe throwing a little money our way wouldn’t look so bad then.
Looks like everyone pretty much agrees on definitions.
But audits need teeth if they’re going to have impact on behavior and results. Someone (Hartford) needs to fund it and someone needs to lead it. Then the tricky part kicks in…someone needs to be accountable for making change happen. That takes guts and considerable intestinal fortitude over the long term. I’ve seen operational audits spotlight some of the most egregious examples of mismanagement known to man, but nothing changed as a result. That can’t be allowed to happen here.
So don’t just focus on the audit as the answer to the city’s/BOE’s problems. The answer lies in the commitment to ACT, more than just a commitment to investigate.
Is Finch… is Medina… is the Common Council up to the task? You’re guess is as good as mine.
Sorry for the typo… should read: Your guess is as good as mine.
Digital dexterity needs some refinement.
Walsh – your posting was fine up until the last sentence when you just had to throw in a dig at Mario. can you ever once just make a statement without negativity, you cut off your nose to spite your face. What the hell does he have to do with auditing the BOE? If Stasftrom was the chairman you’d be making the same statement. I think you just have problems with authority figures no matter who they are.
so when does the BOE press secretary get fired for misleading people with the scare tactic about closing Black Rock school? Ramos and half of his overpaid underworked staff is a big waste of money. Yes, show me an audit, and I don’t care who makes it happen, just do it.
Can somebody verify that Max Medina is fit to be tied because Moonbeam reversed his decision to close Black Rock School bowing in deference to significant political damage.
If it is true then we can expect ALL of Moonbeam’s decisions to be based upon political benefit to him and his machine.
I’m glad Black Rock School will remain open. It is a great community school that impacts not only the students but the people as well. The structure is tired, it’s old and costly to repair and to heat and cool. The decision to close that particular school should only be made when it makes good economic sense to do so. I believe that the children would benefit from a modern structure offering state of the art teaching tools. Moonie may have had that in mind. Reversing himself because he would surely lose Black Rock is not the quality and characteristic we need in a mayor. It just proves he’s a spineless sycophant and dumb.
“Claude Balls // Apr 10, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Monsuier Yahooy,
I would like very much anna to touch my baguette.”
Go right ahead and ask. I doubt very much that she could find it.
Finch’s decision to close BR School…I think not, check with Ramos on that scare tactic! Medina should be tied to a tree or better yet, nailed to a wall. I had much higher expectation from him. Yahooy & Claude, you guys are so funny!