September 25, 2007
Justin Q. Public, Unwanted
Apparently — as the janitor informed me when I hopped out of the minivan with bloggerbag (aka a canvas briefcase) in hand — the union and the Tiverton school committee have decided to take eleven days off. So, no school committee meeting tonight.
The way things operate 'round here, it's as if the interested citizen is meant to learn to decipher, over the course of a few months, some hidden message in the town's meeting schedule saying, "Participation not encouraged."
I'm sure that town officials of various stripes have sat through their share of meetings with no public participation and have therefore decided not to waste their time meeting for the benefit of empty rooms. But the flip side of that decision is that the public has ever less reason to attend.
Couldn't the school committee have announced (and publicized) an opportunity for interested citizens to comment on the contract negotiations? It might be that the first effort at that sort of a meeting would feel like time wasted, but if such opportunities were expected, they would be better attended.
In the meantime, I guess I'll chalk it up to a victory for the union — albeit a minor one, as modesty requires me to admit — that there will be no first-hand observations of hostile behavior posted on Anchor Rising this evening. (Of course, a backfire could be seen in the fact that I now have more time tonight to ponder broader matters and to do some organizational-type thinking.)
You think a lot of yourself Jus. There was never a mediation session tonight. So if a school committee meeting was canceled, that was their decision alone. While it is nice you chalk that up to a "union victory" there is no reason to even think along those lines.
Now you are seeing the frustration the Union has felt with the way the SC operates.
By the way, the idea that both sides are taking 11 days off is a little misleading. I will report though that we did have a hearing scheduled in front of the labor board on Friday that the School Committee canceled.
Moral of the story: I feel your pain, Jus.
Posted by: Pat Crowley at September 25, 2007 7:32 PMHey Pat, where are those phantom numbers NEARI continues to swear exist but you're hiding?
Posted by: Greg at September 25, 2007 7:40 PMwhat numbers are those, Greg?
Posted by: Pat Crowley at September 25, 2007 7:53 PMI love it when you play dumber than you are.
These numbers:
http://www.anchorrising.com/barnacles/004648.html
Oh please... with Don "New Math" Hawthorne, are you kidding me? Jus knows I have know problem supplying data which will be treated objectively , ie. the spreadsheet I posted on how much money the Union could save that Tiverton taxpayer compared to the school committee proposal(which he honorably did). The other guy .....
Posted by: Pat Crowley at September 25, 2007 8:03 PMDon't invoke me. I know you released a spreadsheet of poor design and limited utility and didn't respond to critiques. If Don's numbers are so bad, they should be easy to dispel.
Me, I'm still waiting for that full letter to Rearick.
Posted by: Justin Katz at September 25, 2007 8:08 PMJustin,
Just an FYI. The school board established the 2nd and 4th Tuesday as their regular meeting schedule. So the mediation schedule and their regular meetings have nothing to do with each other. It is of course at their option to cancel, but you are absolutely correct in that this fact should have been publicized at town hall, on their website and at the Secretary of State's website (where all open meeting agendas are posted). This is the practice of all other boards in town. But as I have stated before, based on observations over the past four yrs., this body seems to have very little interest in public participation. And it does produces apathy among those wishing to become involved.
Posted by: WillP at September 25, 2007 8:09 PMOh Jus, how quick they forget. Just because it disproved your point doesn't mean it had limited utility... or maybe THATS your point.
why aren't you upset that the SC is proposing a health insurance plan what costs the community more, not less?
Posted by: Pat Crowley at September 25, 2007 8:38 PMLies, lies, and more lies.
Your Excel spreadsheet disproved nothing. There were no details, just numbers that you could have invented yourself, and any reader can easily verify as much.
Posted by: Justin Katz at September 25, 2007 10:54 PMRe: Pat's words: "Oh please... with Don "New Math" Hawthorne, are you kidding me? Jus knows I have know problem supplying data which will be treated objectively..."
Hey Pat, I have said I will post on Anchor Rising your analysis justifying your public claim that the East Greenwich teachers are taking a "pay cut."
Offer still stands. You send it to me and it will be in its own separate AR blog post. No commentary by me in that post; I will save that for another post.
Posted by: Donald B. Hawthorne at September 26, 2007 12:59 AM