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McCook, Nebraska ~ Saturday, July 4, 2009
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 Read comments (7)School Board Rescinds AppointmentMonday, November 24, 2008
On a 3-2 vote, the McCook Public Schools board of education Monday evening rescinded its vote on Nov. 10 that appointed Gary Power to complete the two years remaining in the term of Greg Larson, who resigned in September.
Voting to cancel Power's appointment were Mike Gonzales, Tom Bredvick and Larry Shields. Voting "no" were Diane Lyons and Shane Messersmith.
Thirteen people from the audience of about 160 citizens spoke at Monday's special meeting, which was moved from the junior high conference room to the cafeteria to accommodate the crowd. See the complete story in Tuesday's Gazette. Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on mccookgazette.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
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The thing of it is no one really has a problem with Gary Powers, just with the way the whole thing went down. The man was appointed by the rules the board set it place before the appointment.
Calling a special meeting and rescinding the appointment was the wrong thing to do.
It only took about 2 minutes for me to see what Messersmith was about and to see that I would never vote for him and I was shocked the he won the election. That still doesn't change my opinion that the appointment should have been left in place.
Were you at the board meeting, Meshedup? If not, watch the video on the Gazette's main page. If you were there . . . were you sleeping?!?! The only thing the 160 in attendance did was show the 3 board members who are obviously failing us that they need to quit setting forth their personal agendas and do what is best for the school, the teachers, and most importantly, our kids. The system Lyons, Messersmith and Shields manipulated to vote in Power was seriously flawed and anyone with an ounce of intelligence can see it was not by mistake. We shouldn't HAVE TO attend the board meetings because we put our trust in these individuals when we elected them to do what's in this school district's best interest. When they intentionally do the opposite, they lose our trust and the public needs to voice their concerns. This very well could be a life changing event for our kids! Lyons, Messersmith and Shields have been on a slow downhill slide to dragging our school system down the tubes. True, if the public had paid attention up to the election, Diane Lyons never would have been voted back on. Shame on US for not doing our homework. These are NOT the type of people the majority wants running our schools, at least not NOW. I, for one will be looking to prepare and/or sign whatever petition is generated to remove Lyons, Messersmith, and possibly Shields from the board if they don't remove the chip off their contentious shoulders and do what's in this school district's best interests AND I will be attending school board meetings on a regular basis (it's a shame we have to babysit).
The only one screaming was a board member. Watch the video before you comment.
So 160 people who didn't care enough about the appointment to show up during the process scream bloody murder after the process and get Shields to change his mind and you people see this as a good thing?
This is one replacement on a school board, not some life changing event. I've gotten to see enough of Greg Larson and the type of person he is that I can assure you if the McCook Public School system can survive him they would be fine Gary Powers of anyone else appointed to replace him.
People, move on and let these people get back to running our schools.
Let me add that I too am very pleased with the outcome of the meeting and the rescinding of the vote. I do think that Mr. Shields', although voting to rescind, true colors came forward. Getting mad, losing his temper, stammering and turning all red isn't the type of behavior that we need on this Board. Mr. Messersmith didn't have to try very hard to prove his true colors either. I just wish that we could do the elections over again, I'm sure the outcome would be TOTALLY different. Mike and Tom, great job of being professional, calm, open and understanding. I think Tom said it best when he said that he doesn't vote for his own personal interests but rather the voters best interests. As far as Ms. Lyons...well, I'm not defending her in any way but please realize that 160 people in attendance is a far cry from the total number of voters that elected her. I'm sure that she received phone calls, visits, advice from her husband and friends, etc. that supported her decision. Now, we need to be sure and attend the next Board meeting and see to it that they follow through with either appointing or deciding to hold a special election to fill the position correctly.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Tom and Mike, thank you for the motion and the second. Larry, I appreciate your willingness to listen to the patrons of our school district. Larry, Tom, and Mike, no matter how difficult the decision was, I believe you voted with the best interest of the kids, administration, teachers, and patrons in mind. To everyone who attended, to those who spoke and to those who made it known that they wanted the appointment of Gary Powers rescinded, our concerns were heard by these three board members.
To Diane and Shane, it is really a shame that you have "dug your heels in" and did not come to the meeting with a willingness to listen to those in attendance. I truly felt as I sat there and listened to the public comments and then the school board discussion, that you had not heard a word of what was voiced and that, by dang, you were not going to change your vote. I have sat on committees before, and have been on the unpopular side of issues. I always felt that I was willing to listen to all sides and then make an informed decision even if it was different from my initial view. That is called being open-minded for the good of the group.
To all of those in attendance last evening and to those who could not make it, do not become passive and let this issue fall off your radar screen. There will be a meeting on Dec. 8, 2008 and again, we need to be there. Remember, we are the voice for our kids.
I couldn't believe how Diane Lyons' blatantly ignored the voice of the people! I don't know what her personal agenda might be except maybe to have another "yes man" on her team. No offense to Powers intended. Kudos to Shields for finally doing the right thing - I was a bit concerned after his attempted #$%-chewing of the crowd. Bredvick did an impressive job of remaining professional while Lyons tried (and failed) to shoot down his recommendations. Way to do your homework, Tom! As for Gonzales, I don't know how you remain calm and professional with someone like Messersmith making unnecessary personal attacks against you. Impressive! My prayers are with all the board members in this time of turmoil!