A Time to Give Thanks

We are entering into what may be the most chaotic time of the year – the holidays. We’ll be rushing around, spending money that perhaps we don’t have, eating and drinking too much, sitting in traffic, losing patience and turning the season of joy into the season of jangled nerves.

So . . . before the insanity begins, we at the Mirror wanted to take a few moments to reflect on a few of those things for which we may give thanks:

Give thanks for the things that we’re gifted with every day – the bright sunshine, an ocean breeze or a light rainstorm.

Give thanks for the snowfall – it brings us snow angels and snowmen.

Give thanks to the guy (or gal) who drives the bus that gets your kids safely back & forth to school.

Give thanks for the teachers, coaches and clergy that help you guide your children to adulthood.

Give thanks if you have a family to turn to in times of joy and in times of despair.

Give thanks for the people you love who have gone on before you. They helped bring you to where you are.

Give thanks for the silly things in life – they make you laugh and help you live longer.

Give thanks for the struggles and the hard times – they teach life’s lessons and help make you a stronger person.

Give thanks for the laughter and tears that you share with friends.

Give thanks for all the things in your life that are good – your health, your family, a roof over your head and food on your table.

Give thanks for our military all over the world, our police, and our firemen who put their lives on the line to keep us safe.


What are you thankful for this holiday season? Share your thoughts with your fellow bloggers, and have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.


The Everett Mirror – Campbell, Elizabeth & David

Uncommon Tolerance: Déjà vu and The Everett School Committee

The School Committee has shown uncommon tolerance for scandal when it comes to Superintendent of Schools Frederick F. Forestiere. The Superintendent has enjoyed unparalleled loyalty, despite scandal, beginning in 1992, and many are asking, “What’s it going to take” to get the School Committee to act responsibly and appropriately in their management of the Superintendent’s employment and legal challenges?

From the State Ethics Web Site:

In the Matters of John Shay and Frederick Foresteire (July 7, 1992) The Ethics Commission fined Everett School Committee member John Shay and Everett School Superintendent Frederick Foresteire for violating the Massachusetts Conflict of Interest law when Foresteire arranged for a "free" paint job for Shay’s apartment done by a school department painter. In separate Disposition Agreements reached with the Ethics Commission, both Shay and Foresteire admitted that their actions violated G.L. c. 268A, the conflict law, and agreed to pay the fines.

Imagine if the School Committee had taken appropriate action in 1992? Perhaps none of this would be happening now.

Today’s Boston Herald (Monday, November 15, 2004) reported yet another scandal at the troubled school administration office. Previously sealed court documents revealed that the Superintendent had work done on his home for free by a subcontractor for Everett Public Schools. Additionally, the Boston Herald also reported that this same subcontractor, Thomas Eldredge, now a government witness, delivered an air conditioner “to the superintendent’s back stairs.” It was also reported that Gino Grande, the superintendent’s former brother-in-law, told Mr. Eldredge of the bid-rigging arrangement. Mr. Grande is also reported to have told Mr. Eldredge that the superintendent was “connected” and that “no one could touch Foresteire because he has powerful friends.”

Déjà vu - it is.

The Superintendent continues to deny any wrongdoing and even made a statement at this evening’s School Committee meeting about the Herald story, claiming that the “the story is false. It is a lie.” The Superintendent went on to allege that Mayor Ragucci is responsible for planting a series of stories in the Herald, claiming that the Mayor’s upcoming re-election campaign will be a campaign against the School Department in an effort to deflect attention away from “the shortcomings of his administration.” Tonight’s statements by the Superintendent, however, could also be seen as a desperate attempt to divert attention away from himself and his ongoing legal troubles.

It remains to be seen how legitimate the charges against the Superintendent and his co-indicted associates turn out to be, and the legal supposition of innocent until proven guilty should certainly be applied to this as it would to any other case. That is not the question right now. The question is the affect that this cloud of suspicion has on the reputation of the school system and the City of Everett in general, not to mention the ability of Mr. Foresteire to conduct business for the school system while under such intense pressure and scrutiny. In speaking with two human resources professionals, the Mirror found them to be of one opinion – it would be in the best interest of the “company” – that is, the City of Everett – for Mr. Foresteire and Mrs. DeFeo to be placed on administrative leave until such time as their legal problems are resolved.

In other words -- it’s time for the School Committee to step up to the plate and do the right thing.

The Common Council and the Schoolyard Bullies – Um – The School Committee

The Common Council met on Wednesday, November 3, and on the calendar was the request from the School Department that the City Council approve a transfer of $540,000 to cover unpaid bills from fiscal year 2004. This matter had been laid over from the October 18 meeting because members of the School Committee who had been requested to attend failed to appear (see previous post of October 21 – Common Council Seeks Answers). Such was not the case at the November 3 meeting, where members of the School Committee, school principals, teacher and central administration employees, including Assistant Superintendent Anthony Malione, Associate Superintendent Richard Wallace, and Administrative Assistant Peter Dolan, packed the Council Chambers.

However, prior to the transfer request being addressed, Ward 3 Councilman Stephen Stat Smith dropped a bomb of sorts when he brought up a controversial piece of business, which he had placed under suspension, asking City Solicitor Robert Jordan to provide an update to the Council on the status of the indictments against Superintendent Forestiere and Maintenance Manager Lona DeFeo. When the Councilor began asking about the nature of the indictment, and for further information regarding the court status of the charges, the buzz in the room was palpable and the members of the School Committee and School Department were clearly agitated by the line of questioning. After a muffled discussion amongst themselves, School Committee Chairman David Ela rose from his chair and motioned for all to leave the room. As they made a show of parading out, one attendee ran over to the TV cameraman that the School Committee had brought and instructed him to pack up his equipment and leave the chambers as well. As a side note, one could wonder why the School Department would go to the expense of bringing their own camera person when ECTV tapes all government meetings and willingly provides copies to all who request them.

When Councilman Smith completed his questioning of the City Solicitor, the request for the $540,000 transfer came before the Council. While the order to cover the overspending initially failed to obtain the required 2/3 vote, a motion for reconsideration passed and the matter was once again brought before the Council. Peter Dolan, Administrative Assistant, appeared before the Council to face their questions (questions which were initially to be presented to School Committee Chairman Ela, who was standing in the hall outside of the Chambers, incensed at Councilman Smith’s mention of the pending indictments against the Superintendent and Mrs. DeFeo, and refusing to appear). Before the questioning began, Mr. Dolan made it clear that he and those who had left the room felt that the previous piece of business had been out of line and asked for an apology from the Council. Receiving none, Mr. Dolan attempted to make a reasonable argument for a favorable vote to cover the overspending from FY’04. Dr. Wallace also took a turn at providing a reasonable explanation. The real turning point, however, was the appearance by Mayor Ragucci, who explained that the bills had to be paid, and that by using the reserve account for the school department health insurance incentive, the city council would be saving the taxpayer any further burden. Ward Five Councilwoman Catherine Gover expressed deep concerns about the School Committee’s inability to reign in spending, claiming that they were on track to overspend again, by virtue of some very significant raises, as well as the nine Central Administration clerical staff that the school committee had never budgeted. Although Councilwoman Gover claimed it was a “pay now or pay later situation”, given the current track the school committee was on, the vote for the order to cover the overspending passed overwhelmingly, with only two nay votes and one abstention.


One observational aside . . . there are some troubling aspects to the behavior of the School Committee and School Department representatives that evening. While some may question Councilman Smith’s motive for requesting an update on the School Department’s legal troubles, the question is not unreasonable, and the School Department’s “righteous indignation” seems a disproportionate reaction to the situation, given that a week has not recently passed when the Superintendent of Schools and the School Committee has not attempted to vilify Councilman Smith, and now Councilwoman Catherine Gover, in the local press and at their own School Committee meetings. The latest volley from the School Administration is to accuse Mrs. Gover of criminal negligence because she continues to do what she was elected to do – look out for the taxpayers of the City and make people accountable for how they spend taxpayer dollars. It seems that the Schoolyard Bullies – oops – the School Committee can dish it out, but turn screaming with indignation when the mirror is held up to their own faces. It is the height of hypocrisy and another example of their belief that the rules apply to everyone but them.

The School Committee’s Gambler’s Budget

At the Wednesday, November 3 meeting of the Common Council, Dr. Richard Wallace, Associate Superintendent of Schools, may have revealed more than he intended about how the School Department makes its budget. Responding to questions from one of the councilors regarding their “hidden in plain sight” employees -- staff that had never been budgeted into the Central Administration Salaries line item, in part leading to the half million dollar deficit this year -- Dr. Wallace told the truth. He stated that the School Department’s priority is to budget for senior teachers, operating from year to year with the hope that teacher retirements and terminations will cover the unbudgeted employees in the Central Administration Salaries line item. It’s unfortunate that the School Department wouldn’t choose to hire replacement teachers with that money, as opposed to covering the salaries of the unbudgeted, unaccounted for clerical staff of the School Department’s Central Administration.

It would appear, however, that the School Department’s budgetary “tool” isn’t serving them well, given that they’ve overspent their budget for the last four years in a row. (The Mirror is aware that the Superintendent took out a full page ad to refute this claim, but the School Department ledger reveals overspending each and every year for the last four years. Please see the Mirror’s previous post dated October 21 for details). Truth in budgeting is a good solid business practice not to mention a legal and, dare we say, ethical requirement. Good decision-making depends on accurate information in the budget. Ask any CEO in private industry how long their company would last if they engaged in the budgetary shell game consistently played by the School Department.

It now makes sense why there are not enough teachers; the school department has to make sure it can cover over $6,000 in weekly salaries that it failed to budget, leading the School Committee to continually lay over spending requests for more teachers – because the money to hire them is not there.


Union Benefits for Non-Union Employees

Another interesting piece of information that came out of the November 3 Common Council meeting was the providing of union negotiated benefits for non-union employees. Mayor Ragucci stated that, after having met with the teacher’s union, he put $540,000 on the table for the School Committee to provide a 2% incentive for union employees to accept an 85-15% split on health insurance. The agreement that was negotiated with the School Committee then provided the health insurance incentive for non-union employees. Additionally, the School Committee is also funding a 1% increase, supposedly to sweeten the arrangement, while City Hall employees only received a 2% incentive to take the 85/15% split on health insurance.

Also revealing was the range of raises for the non-union staff, which includes both Central Administration clerical staff and school directors. Although the School Committee insists these groups are union, the fact of the matter is that collective bargaining would result in equitable raises for all. Interestingly enough, Central Administration clerical staff received raises that ran from 7.4% - 14.6% (courtesy of a September raise for one of the employees) and 7.5%-18.1% for Everett School Administrators, which includes directors. This leads one to believe that these groups are NOT union, and therefore, these raises are entirely discretionary. In other words - the raises didn‘t have to be negotiated or handed out. These entirely discretionary raises are even more interesting when one considers that the School Committee handed them out when they didn’t have enough teachers.

It should also be noted that, although the School Department claims that the clerical employees are unionized, the group representing the clerical staff in “negotiations” is not recognized as such by any organized labor association. Memo to the Custodian Union - don’t negotiate a thing until you learn what the School Committee intends to hand out to the Central Administration clerical staff. Clearly, they have more power than any recognized union in this City.