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Board rescinds appointment
On a 3-2 vote, the McCook Public Schools board of education Monday evening rescinded its Nov. 10 action to name Gary Power to complete the two years remaining in the term of board member Greg Larson, who resigned in September.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.
Shields -- who assured citizens, "I have listened tonight" -- cast the single vote Monday evening that differed from the Nov. 10 vote that appointed Power.
Shields, Lyons and Messersmith voted Nov. 10 for Power; Gonzales and Bredvick voted for Scott Johnson, who was the top point-getter in the seven-point ranking system recommended by the school district's attorney to narrow the field of seven candidates to the top two. Power came in second after winning a tie-breaker with Sandy Krysl.
The final vote on the appointment Nov. 10 was further evidence of a board seeming to split into two factions, as the same three board members defeated Gonzales' motion earlier in the meeting to add two more intramural sports at the junior high.
Thirteen citizens in an audience of about 160 spoke Monday evening at the special board meeting called to discuss one topic and one topic only -- the possibility of rescinding the Nov. 10 vote that caused such a stir around the community. The special meeting was requested by Bredvick and Shields, who felt the board needed to revisit its Nov. 10 actions, and allow the public to voice its concerns and board members to explain their actions.
Acting president/vice president Larry Shields said speakers would be limited to one opportunity to speak and to five minutes or less each, and no personal attacks or hostile conduct would be tolerated. "You should be further advised that there is no legal protection for any comments that are made," Shields said.
Several speakers told board members that they had nothing against Power, but were upset with board actions that resulted in his appointment. Dale Dueland told board members that he thought the board could have taken "some giant steps toward board unity" in appointing Scott Johnson, for whom even Lyons and Messersmith had cast the best vote -- a 1 -- in the initial voting process. Dueland said, in a prepared statement, "With all due respect to Mr. Power, I ... found it frustrating and hard to believe that this board had passed over what I felt were several more qualified applicants."
Maury Green, who was elected to a school board vacancy in the Nov. 4 general election, said he, too, has nothing against Gary Power. "What bothers me the most," Green said, "is the appearance of impropriety that the board created with its actions and with its vote."
The board's attempt to "sidestep" the recommendation from the school district's attorney regarding the process to fill Larson's vacancy, Green said, "created distrust in the public and from the public," and further actions by the board "created the appearance of disregard for the opinions of other board members and disrespect for the applicants through the process of shuffling numbers around to get the desired results."
Green reiterated that, "this has nothing whatsoever to do with Gary Power," but said that the actions by the board and the procedure by which the board filled Larson's position, "did nothing other than create a great deal of distrust in this board, and for that purpose alone -- the procedure, not the end result -- the board ought to reconsider its actions taken two weeks ago."
Mindy Saafeld told board members that the Nov. 10 vote has broken the community's trust in the school board. Saafeld said that she does not know Power, but encouraged the board to rescind its action and appoint its top choice to help restore trust in the community and move the school district in the right direction. She encouraged the board to listen to the public and "move forward, instead of staying stagnant."
Jerry Reitz told board members, "You're playing politics. We can see that." He told the board to support the district's teachers and administrators, and to set policies. "You've got the best set of educators, and an unbelievable administration. Let the teachers teach. Don't play politics," Reitz said. "Let the teachers teach. Give (them) the tools to teach, and stay out of their way. That's your job."
Kay Flaska asked for a show of hands of those in the crowd who supported the decision of the board two weeks ago. Five hands went up when she asked who supported those board actions; too many hands to count went up when she asked who did not support the previous decision of the board.
Superintendent Dave Schley said that what the school "is going through tonight is not good. It shouldn't be happening. We're about kids ... kids, kids, kids, kids. I'm asking everyone to put a stop to this, and focus on kids and learning."
He encouraged the board to come to a consensus and agree to move forward. "My hope and prayer is that you will move forward as a school system, for the kids and for the teachers," Schley said.
Acting president/vice president Larry Shields made a "last call" for more public comment at 6:57 p.m., and closed the comment session at 6:58 p.m.
Bredvick's motion to rescind the board's action on Nov. 10 resulted in an extended silence as all waited for a second. Gonzales' second and Shields' acceptance of the motion and second opened board discussion of the motion.
Lyons defended her original vote for Power, saying that rescinding Power's appointment now would be assuming that there is some reason that Mr. Power is a less likely candidate or person to serve on the board of education now than he was two weeks ago.
She noted that Power attended workshops at the state school boards convention in Omaha last week on his own time. "He is actually a better candidate now than he was two weeks ago because he has educated himself," Lyons said, to laughter from the audience.
Lyons said she voted for Power because she has known him 15 to 20 years. She said he is an analytical thinker and is fiscally conservative. He was involved in sports in high school and in college, taught four years of science in a senior high school in Los Angeles, and has been a substitute teacher in McCook. She said he attends board meetings and asks questions. "He ran for the board of education twice. He cares very much about children in our system," she said. "I see nothing objectionable about Gary. He is a good person. He is his own person, and I think he will do a wonderful job on this board."
Shields' voice rose as he said that no one approached him with their support for any particular school board candidate before the Nov. 10 vote, and he voted his own conscience at the Nov. 10 meeting.
Gonzales cut off Shields' criticism of "people who hide behind their damned computers, their cell phones and call in on radio stations and think they're anonymous ... that's baloney ... people who aren't man enough ..." saying his comments didn't address the meeting's topic -- whether or not to rescind the board's Nov. 10 vote.
Lyons wanted the board to be able to make public comment, but Bredvick reminded her that state statute prohibits changing the agenda within 24 hours and keeps the board from discussing anything except what's on the agenda ... "discuss the motion at hand," Bredvick said.
Shields encouraged healing, promoting "forgiveness and forgetness ... forgive and then forget." He said, "And I guess I have listened tonight."
Messersmith called the board, "five different individuals ... we did have five different votes on the situation." He explained that he judged the board position candidates on their eye contact, whether they have kids in the school system and whether they have the same views that he has.
He assured those present that there were "no behind-the-scenes gatherings ... no politics. Our votes weren't identical."
Messersmith said that it was unfortunate that "somebody got upset because the vote didn't go his direction."
Bredvick said that on the issue of the appointment and its process, "the community spoke loudly to me and repetitively to me, and I had to bring it forward. Dividing the community is not ... NOT my calling in life. I will not make a decision in my best interest. I'll make a decision in the community's best interest."
Gonzales said his "was not a personal agenda," but he instead attacked the voting process that he said, "got flawed intentionally."
Lyons asked what he meant by "flawed intentionally," and then she explained that the process by which the board ranked candidates was difficult to understand and very confusing.
Lyons said that Gary Power and Scott Johnson were the two best qualified after listening to the candidates. "Did I think the other candidates deserve sixes and sevens?" Lyons questioned. "No, but it was the only way to get to discuss the best two."
She called the process flawed, "not the best way to decide." She said there was "no perfect way to do this, especially with seven great candidates."
"Did it stink?" she questioned. "I think it did. I wish there was a better way to do it," adding that she wished the discussion of candidates could have been in closed session.
Bredvick suggested looking into the cost -- a "guesstimate," he said, of $5,600 -- of a special election of District 17 patrons to find a replacement for Larson, saying that an election would be a show of faith in the community. Bredvick said the board itself has a budget that most likely has enough in it to pay for a special election.
Schley told Shields that yes, appointing Scott Johnson is one option to fill the vacancy. It would have to be done at a subsequent meeting, Shields said, as an appointment is not on the special meeting's agenda.
Jerry Reitz stood, saying he would donate $1,000 to help fund a special election, adding that he feels others would donate whatever other funding is needed. "The people then seated would be voted in, and there would be no issues with this board," Reitz said.
Lyons and Messersmith voted "no" in quick succession on Bredvick's motion to rescind the Nov. 10 action. Then Larry Shields leaned forward and said, tersely, "It's a democratic process" ... and sat. Folding his hands ... unfolding them. Sitting back, sitting forward. Fifty-one seconds later, "Yes," he said.
Bredvick and Gonzales each voted "yes."
The motion to rescind the Nov. 10 action passed, 3-2.
The crowd applauded.
The board's next meeting will be Monday, Dec. 8.
The meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.