"Pleasantdale Elementary School District 107 has shown a disregard for the general public in the way it has gone about filling a School Board seat vacated by former board member Patti Essig."
Read the rest of the article by clicking the link below.
The Doings hit the nail on the head with their opinion this week!
Board president Leandra Sedlack threw fellow board members Gina Scaletta-Nelson and Karen O'Halloran under the bus in her interview with the Doings by not mentioning that the vote, which took place in open session, was split 4 to 2. Scaletta-Nelson and O'Halloran were the only two board members that voted against this appointment. Rather than explaining to the Doings that the vote was by majority and not unanimous, she leads the community to think that entire board was in agreement with giving Rigley back his seat. Clearly this was not the case.
While Board President Leandra Sedlack pointed to Rigley's former board experience, chief negotiating skills and core team membership, we can point to a few things she missed. Namely, meetings. If you look on the district's website here, you will see that Rigley has only attended one meeting (to assist with a closed session discussion) since he was booted from the board.
This appointment does not come as a surprise; it was in the works since the 2009 election. It was never any secret that Patty Essig was going to step down prior to the end of her four year term. She wasn't even going to run in 2009, but was convinced to do it once it was made clear to her that "radicals and rogues" had filed nominating papers. She didn't want these newcomers to ruin what she worked so hard to accomplish, was how she explained it while out gathering signatures. While it was known that Essig had to wait until after the 2011 election to step down, we believe her exit was hastened by recent allegations that she was a party to nepotism within the district.
It became evident that Dr. Fredisdorf wouldn't need to promote all three incumbents through the monthly Friday packet as we predicted here, because if any of his lackeys lost the election, they would just be re-appointed by the remaining board members once Patty stepped down.
"By deciding to keep this all secret, the board leaves the public to assume the worst, that incumbents decided to keep the board seat all in the family by appointing one of their own." Ding, ding, ding! They surely are staying true to their mission.
It's sad the board majority chose to waste the time and energy of six wonderful applicants who stepped up to the plate to make this district the best it can be.
We believe that putting Rigley back on the board will mean political suicide for the members that saw nothing wrong with this appointment. In the face of a district in constant turmoil, this might just be the icing on the cake for them.
So again, thanks to the Doings for telling it like it is. We appreciate their time, effort and honesty.
6 comments:
All I can say is if you have concerns go to the next meeting.
People do not go to meetings because it is not worth their time. We are dismissed, not looked at, and our questions, even when we fill out forms, are not truely answered. Without the satisfaction of action, it is hard to dedicate the time to show up, let alone try to make a statement, and be treated like an annoying, disobedient child.
How about going to meetings and sticking up for the Board Members that are trying to fight for us?
In the announcement of Mr. Rigley's appointment, Leandra Sedlack points to Rigley's experience as the chief negotiator in the most recent contract negotiations. If that were true, can the Board explain the legal bills that were certainly paid to the legal staff handling the negotiation? As someone who has been involved in several union negotiations, I can tell you that Mr. Rigley most likely contributed little or nothing to the process. The lawyers and business agents do the majority of the communication between Management and the Union. If he was in fact the Chief Negotiator, and was so critical to the successful negotiation, then the Board President should be able to point to specific changes, additions, and deletion of contract language that he was responsible for, and the expected benefits to the district. Mr. Rigley was there simply to represent the Board and report back to the Board on the progress. Acting as a note taker is clearly an important attribute to be part of this Board.
Thank you Anonymous - well said!
I went to the meeting tonight and said my peace about the reappointment of Mr Rigley and they just looked at me a smiled! They didn't care what I said!!! Oh and by the way Mr Rigley was a no show for the meeting!! Gee why wasn't he there? I wonder???
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