Drama & Distortion--Politics as Usual

Politics in Everett has never lacked for drama . . . this week is no exception. It has also never lacked for distortion, and again, recent events are no exception.

The events that unfolded at the Common Council meeting Monday evening gave us evidence of both the drama and distortion that can take place when politics becomes the priority. In the course of one government meeting, the Superintendent was accused of making "illegal expenditures", the Mayor was accused of reneging on a promise to fund teacher raises, and in the aftermath, one department head and certain members of the Common Council have been accused of doing the Mayor's bidding in his alleged continuing attempts to make the Superintendent look bad.

We would like to address one particular distortion in this discussion -- that being that the Mayor was trying to renege on an agreement made between the City and the School Department to fund 1% of the teachers' raises through an anticipated Medicaid reimbursement.

The City entered into an agreement with the School Department that any Medicaid reimbursement monies received from the state that were in excess of $590,000 would be applied to offset the cost of an increase in teachers' salaries in 2005. The City entered into this agreement based on information that they received from the School Department that these excess reimbursements would amount to $270,000. Unfortunately, however, the City did not request any documents that would verify the School Department's claim that this excess of funds would be available for disbursement. In addition, the City signed a very poorly crafted agreement with the School Department that could be interpreted to mean that the City would be responsible for covering the $270,000 transfer regardless of the amount of excess Medicaid reimbursement the city received. To date, the total Medicaid reimbursement received in excess of $590,000 has been only $16,000, leaving the City to come up with the $254,000 shortfall from another source. This is what was done Monday evening . . . the teachers are not being deprived of their pay raises, and the City is not reneging on their promise, although Wednesday's news reports certainly would make it seem like the teachers are the victims in all this political gamesmanship -- and it simply is not true.

What is true is that the City was foolish to accept the School Department's word at face value. At best, the School Committee submitted misleading information during the negotiations. At worst, they lied. What is true is that rather than calling the School Committee on the bogus information they provided in order to broker this deal, the Administration has chosen to go forward and find a way to fulfill the obligation into which they entered. What is true is that certain members of the Common Council were calling the Mayor to account for the rationale behind this agreement, given the fact that there is currently no risk that the teacher salaries could not be met for the remainder of the year. The only way the salaries will not be met is if the School Department starts playing another shell game with their budget -- transferring money in and out of accounts to cover expenses for which they did not budget.

Drama and distortion in Everett politics -- it's nothing new; in fact, it's getting pretty old. Trust in our elected and our city officials seems to be at an all time low. This is the year to call for greater accountability from those responsible for working for the greater good. This is the year to require a higher standard. We deserve nothing less.