Poor Susan Gets No Respect

I suspect my work here is taking effect. Often, I’ve accused board member Susan Valdes of having few original thoughts, and mostly being the echo of April Griffin. Lately, Valdes has tried harder to find her own voice, to set her own agenda.

She keeps forgetting that she’s been quoted as saying she trusts no one in the district, and thinks all other board members are the Superintendent’s “rubber stampers.”

At yesterday’s school board meeting, member Valdes tried to press her idea of providing more marketing to promote Supplier Diversity and to recruit more local businesses into the district’s vendor system. And, she asked district staff to put together a plan to advance her ideas.

At first blush, her thoughts sound reasonable.

Until Candy Olson put the hammer down. Olson reminder everyone that the district is facing millions upon millions in budget cuts, and everyone’s time and efforts should be spent supporting classrooms, not a board member’s pet project.

Well, that sat poorly with Ms. Valdes. She was outraged at Olson… outraged I say!!

I guess the clueless Valdes forgot no one on the board really gives a rat’s patoot about her opinions, and, I guess she hated to be dissed in front of her puppeteer, Patrick Manteiga, who was in the audience to later address the board.

Don’t Craze me, Bro

As Chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee, Manteiga did address the board at length, offering the committee’s recommendation on budget cuts. He suggested employee furloughs and increased benefit costs are better than lay-offs. In the background, CTA director Yvonne Lyons scowled.

Manteiga finished by saying the committee has no faith in our current legislature to solve the funding and budget crisis, and Hillsborough County residents need to raise their own local property taxes temporarily to supplement local education.

I’ll let you judge this last suggestion. I think raising taxes would have a better shot at succeeding if voters trusted bureaucrats to spend their money efficiently.

And do remember, during her past school board campaign, April Griffin repeatedly said, “Our school district has a spending problem, not a funding problem.” I guess she didn’t understand the impact of the class-size amendment, unfunded performance mandates, or national economic swings.

posted by admin @ 5:08 PM