July 22, 2008
More and more people are reading my blog. When I started it, no one did. And no one did for a while. But according to my stats, traffic is going up. I had always written this like no one was reading, which I think, quite frankly, made my posts interesting, if not a little clumsy and audacious. Now I’m noticing people I talk about in this blog are reading it. I’ve had people say things to me and I can see where my clicks are coming from (some are coming from official domains of schools’ e-mail servers).
I’ve decided to take some blog posts down because I wouldn’t write them or worded them so carelessly if I thought anyone was seeing them. So I can continue blogging and try not to have too much of an opinion on what I cover, but what’s the point then? This is why newspaper reporters aren’t allowed to write editorials about their beats. I generally tried to not criticize anyone in here, but I’m realizing any opinion at all becomes a problem for me as a reporter.
I made this blog because I was told to because my paper wanted to have a stronger online presence. I was against it, but being the new reporter on the block, I said OK and was the first one to do it. (I think I’m the only one still updating my blog, too.) But now it looks like it doesn’t matter anymore. Maybe I should just erase this blog. Or I’ll have to try to find some sort of balance if I don’t just quit it. (Or I can start blogging about music or something instead, but that’s not really part of the deal of “Niagara School Days.”)
If I have any readers who have an opinion, please share. What do you think?
July 18, 2008
So, in a close vote tonight, the Lewiston-Porter Board of Education voted 4-3 to deny legal defense to the people Stepien is suing in his lawsuit. (In case you are living under a rock, it’s four board members Stepien used to sit on the board with. They also happen to be the guys who voted yes to kick him off the board last year.) You can read my hastily-written story here. (And if you need a refresher on the lawsuit, read my initial story here.)
What do you think? Seriously, I want to know. I really have nothing to add or say about it. I knew what would happen before it did — it doesn’t take a crystal ball to figure out. (One surprise: I wasn’t expecting to still be stuck there until after 9 p.m. Even a two item agenda at Lew-Port is a lengthy affair. Damn executive sessions.)
Well, I’ll just add this: The focus of the debate about whether the four former board members deserved legal representation became one of the law — did the law say they had to be indemnified or was it optional? It became a little convoluted. There was the issue of whether or not those four guys acted within their duties as school board members, which is what I really focused on. It was just easier to understand and explain. It’s also very specific to the state education law, section 3811.
The other component the board considered that I kind of avoided mentioning was the fact that they are now former school board members. According to the legal counsel the board received, former board members are not mentioned as being entitled to legal defense in section 3811. However, former officials do fall under state public officials law regarding indemnification. So it was a little gray. Or so I’m told. I really don’t know. I’m a reporter, not a lawyer. And I don’t really have time to read all the commissioner’s decisions.
If you’re interested in some light reading though (that’s a joke, these 1000-word sentences will give you headaches), here is section 3811. I’ll just quote what I think is the issue here. So it’s readable, I’m taking out all the extra stuff that explains exceptions or gets overly specific.
Whenever [...] any trustee or member
of the board of education of a school
district [...] shall defend any action
or proceeding, other than a criminal
prosecution, [...] arising out of the
exercise of his powers or the performance
of his duties under this chapter, all his
reasonable costs and expenses, as well
as all costs and damages adjudged against
him, shall be a district charge and shall
be levied by tax upon the district [...].
So what do you think? Do the defendants deserve indemnification because they were acting as board members? Or did they abuse and misuse their official roles? Is it good that the board opted not to spend public money on this? Is the board opening itself to being accused of defying state education law? Is Stepien holding the board accountable for what they did last year? Or does this just discourage people from taking board seats for fear of legal retaliation for their service? Is it bad that the board still hasn’t moved on from the politics of the past? Or does this signal an end to this kind of stuff? Is Stepien voting in the motion a conflict of interest or not? Should we be talking about curriculums and education instead?!
June 26, 2008
I’m going to be known as that reporter who trashes all the new people who come into town. First it started when I wrote about all those lawsuits filed against that poor superintendent candidate in Lew-Port, Oren Cook. (Read the first story here.) (By the way, there will be a follow-up on that, so keep an eye out in the Gazette.) And now the new superintendent in Niagara-Wheatfield, Carl Militello. Read the story here!!
This time, I didn’t even have to use my snazzy legal investigative skills. A simple Google search told the story of residents and parents in his current district who were enraged at this man and hoped he would resign. Well, I guess they got what they wanted. He’s coming to Niagara-Wheatfield instead!
Shout-out to the news people in Watertown too. Their fabulous coverage and relentless tenacity in pursuing the story of his appointment in Niagara-Wheatfield helped make it all possible. I especially loved the quote the reporter from the Daily Times used in her story about his appointment here where one of the administrators said “After the way your newspaper has treated him, I don’t blame him for leaving.” Funny for three reasons: a) He actually said what he was thinking. b) She gladly used the quote in her article. c) After all the calls I got Tuesday night (see previous blog post), I can almost see that guy’s point.
Oh, and speaking of awesome quotes: I love that someone from Carthage registered at the Niagara Gazette’s online message board under the username “YouGotCarl!!!” Yes, that’s the name, exclamation points and all. Their message? “Ha Ha. You got snookered into hiring Carl. Good luck with that. Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out, Carl!” Well, the only people “snookered” — that is, if they were, in fact, snookered — were the members of the board of education. The whole hiring process was hush hush and no one but them knew what was happening. I should start using the word “snookered” more in casual conversation…
June 25, 2008
The hiring of a new superintendent in Niagara-Wheatfield was an interesting situation for me. Not because they hired a new superintendent — I knew that had to come sooner or later. But the frenzy in Watertown, the district the new superintendent is coming from, was something I didn’t expect.
I got a call from a newspaper reporter asking if I knew if this guy, Carl Militello, was a candidate. I told her the board was keeping the candidates a secret, but they were probably making an appointment tonight. She called on the right day. She gave me her cell phone number and asked me if I’d let her know if it was the guy she thought it was once I knew. I’m nice but more importantly, the Gazette doesn’t compete with the news media in Watertown, so I said sure. I gave her a call after the meeting to give her the news as long as she sent us a picture of the new guy in exchange.
She, of course, posted it on her paper’s website and the TV news stations picked up on it. (Here’s a secret: TV news stations rarely do their own reporting. I didn’t realize this until I interned at a news station, but it became even more apparent when I started writing for a newspaper and channels 2, 4, and 7 were constantly stealing my stuff. Ahem, anyway.) So around 10 p.m. I get a call from one news guy asking for the details of this guy being hired. Whatever, that’s fine, I’ll tell him. Then I get another one. And another one. And it wasn’t that hard to tell once I realized this was apparently big news in Watertown because all these guys had booming broadcaster-y voices like Sandy Beach.
I did a Google News search and at least two of the news stations gave the Niagara Gazette credit for the reporting. But you know damn well, if the Niagara Gazette were a newspaper in Watertown, they wouldn’t give us any credit.
Read my story: Now!
June 21, 2008
Seriously, I’m just asking.
