Just a quick update on the School Committee Task Force to Consider Current and Potential Revenue Resources for the Schools (lousy acronym- SCTCCPRRS; how about if I just call it "The Revenue Committee" for shorthand?)As you can imagine, getting so many people to reconcile their schedules to set a first meeting date, so that we can all get together and set other meeting dates, reach some procedural understandings, divide up tasks, and get going so we can provide the community with hard, cold facts has been difficult. Promethian; and to that extent, I am grateful for the efforts undertaken to date to try to make it happen. I'm also grateful for Alexander Grahame Bell for inventing the phone, which has apparently not been the method of choice in contacting some Task Forcer members this process. As some of us don't read e-mail every day, it has put some delay into the effort to set up a first meeting of the group.
After a delightful series of snappish e-mails between two of the appointed members regarding whether or not such a date was possible before September 12th, and whether it was important that every member attend that first meeting, I did finally wade in with two e-mails. The first was to the whole task force, offering a number of creative, sometimes whimsical out of the box options for a first meeting. Getting no response, and reading several more stinging and unproductive e-mails between the two members, one of whom was appointed by the Mayor to serve as chair; I took the liberty of sending an e-mail just to the Mayor and the appointed chair encouraging them to work towards a first meeting of the full committee.
My points to them were simple, although I admit that they lacked the diplomacy so often associated with my written work. They do, however represent my fundamental beliefs about making this a credible report.
Any first meeting of the task force must include all members, or it sends the wrong signal to the entire community; that we are willing move forward without representation from all stakeholders. Even if those stakeholders agreed with me, I would not be willing to take such a step.
Any delay in meeting to schedule a full meeting of the entire group would not likely result in a delay of the work to be done, as we are all very anxious to move forward.
The back and forth which has resulted from the scheduling tiff risks politicizing a process that should never have been a political one in the first place.
And finally, with due respect, I encouraged all to cut the crap and let us get to work as a group. That was frankly one of my less diplomatic moments, but it was an honest one, and I'll stand by it. To those of you reading this and remain undecided about voting for me (did I mention I was running for re-election?), I will try never to use the word "crap" in public debate.
Although I have never set my sails by the prevailing political winds that blow constantly through this wonderful city, that should not be misconstrued to mean that I can't see, smell, feel, and understand politics when I experience it. I've spent six years working for the appointment of a Task Force outside the School Committee to do exactly what this Task Force is charged with. I believe that the range of people chosen reflect the skills needed and the differing perspectives on the issue of school revenues, and will make this a credible, and powerful as well as useful document. And I will be damned if I will let politics, ego, ineptitude, "happy talk" or any other less productive display of human behavior disrupt what I see as a critical task ahead.
Finally, if those leaders, both elected and appointed cannot figure out that it is critical we all meet for the first meeting, I will move very aggressively to encourage the School Committee, to whom the Mayor has insisted the Task Force report, to step in and get the first meeting set up.
Sheesh. I can understand throwing elbows once everybody is inside the tent, but having a spitball fight before we even get there makes no sense to me. And I like spitball fights.
Oh, and all of the above characterizations of motives, process, attitudes, and rationales simply represent the perhaps skewed opinion of one man, running for re-election, but unwilling to let that get in the way of telling it like I see it.
I could certainly be wrong about every bit of it. Then again, maybe not.
Why can't everybody get along? Why can't we just play nice?
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