Why doesn't he just do what Irma did?
Two different government agencies, two different unions, and two totally different methods of handling felony theft. One of those government agencies was Colorado Springs School District 11; the other was the Colorado Springs Police Department.
The headline in the June 8th Gazette read: "Springs police officer arrested in mileage fraud
He claimed $1,400 after he was injured on the job"
The police officer. Neil Ashenbrenner, was arrested for fraudulently claiming a $1,400 reimbursement from the city. The teacher and labor union president, Irma Valerio, was forgiven by D11 officials after fraudulently claiming over $1,000 in reimbursement from D11.
The police labor union leadership was not quoted in the paper as trying to minimize the theft by the officer. The chances that this police officer will be back on the street as a police officer are pretty slim. The teachers' labor union leadership did the right thing by asking Valerio to step down as labor union leader, but they then claimed that it was a private matter that was of little significance to the public. Valerio will be back in the classroom for the 2007/2008 school year.
One public service agency understands that it is obligated to uphold the public trust. Police Chief Richard Myers has vowed to maintain a transparent agency because the public expects that. D11 Superintendent Terry Bishop has said nothing about the D11 theft, using the age-old excuse of "employee privacy" to keep the public in the dark. Instead, he has asked his spokesperson Elaine Naleski, to put out two contradictory statements about the incident. Her first statement was that since Valerio repaid the stolen funds after she was caught, the district would not push for charges because "legal authorities," (who were not identified) told district officials that the return of the funds erased the foul. The next statement was that "legal authorities" had been inquiring about the felony, so D11 had to turn the case over to the DA.
Using the logic of D11 officials and teachers' labor union leaders, all the police officer needs to do now that he has been caught is to pay the money back to the city. No harm, no foul. Give him his badge and weapon and place him back in a position of trust.
The police department leadership understands that the department exists to serve the community. The leadership expressed shame over this incident. D11 leadership, as usual, has been working to hide the D11 theft. No shame was expressed by anyone in a leadership role.
Two government agencies, two different approaches to managing the public trust. The total Colorado Springs Public Safety budget is $116 million, combining police and fire. The total D11 budget is nearly $500 million. The police want to be transparent with their piece of the $116 million. The school district wants the public to turn over $500 million and then turn a blind eye to the use of that money. Hence the administration's desire for a hand-picked school board comprised of weak and controllable members.
Even the liberal city council members would have been outraged had the police chief showed a ho-hum attitude towards the police theft. D11 school board members have been indifferent towards the ho-hum attitude of D11 officials. They really have no choice; their seats were purchased by the labor union and they are afraid to burn bridges.
The actions of the police leaders demonstrated respect for the community; the actions of D11 leaders, as usual, demonstrated contempt for the tax payers.
The status quo lives on.
The headline in the June 8th Gazette read: "Springs police officer arrested in mileage fraud
He claimed $1,400 after he was injured on the job"
The police officer. Neil Ashenbrenner, was arrested for fraudulently claiming a $1,400 reimbursement from the city. The teacher and labor union president, Irma Valerio, was forgiven by D11 officials after fraudulently claiming over $1,000 in reimbursement from D11.
The police labor union leadership was not quoted in the paper as trying to minimize the theft by the officer. The chances that this police officer will be back on the street as a police officer are pretty slim. The teachers' labor union leadership did the right thing by asking Valerio to step down as labor union leader, but they then claimed that it was a private matter that was of little significance to the public. Valerio will be back in the classroom for the 2007/2008 school year.
One public service agency understands that it is obligated to uphold the public trust. Police Chief Richard Myers has vowed to maintain a transparent agency because the public expects that. D11 Superintendent Terry Bishop has said nothing about the D11 theft, using the age-old excuse of "employee privacy" to keep the public in the dark. Instead, he has asked his spokesperson Elaine Naleski, to put out two contradictory statements about the incident. Her first statement was that since Valerio repaid the stolen funds after she was caught, the district would not push for charges because "legal authorities," (who were not identified) told district officials that the return of the funds erased the foul. The next statement was that "legal authorities" had been inquiring about the felony, so D11 had to turn the case over to the DA.
Using the logic of D11 officials and teachers' labor union leaders, all the police officer needs to do now that he has been caught is to pay the money back to the city. No harm, no foul. Give him his badge and weapon and place him back in a position of trust.
The police department leadership understands that the department exists to serve the community. The leadership expressed shame over this incident. D11 leadership, as usual, has been working to hide the D11 theft. No shame was expressed by anyone in a leadership role.
Two government agencies, two different approaches to managing the public trust. The total Colorado Springs Public Safety budget is $116 million, combining police and fire. The total D11 budget is nearly $500 million. The police want to be transparent with their piece of the $116 million. The school district wants the public to turn over $500 million and then turn a blind eye to the use of that money. Hence the administration's desire for a hand-picked school board comprised of weak and controllable members.
Even the liberal city council members would have been outraged had the police chief showed a ho-hum attitude towards the police theft. D11 school board members have been indifferent towards the ho-hum attitude of D11 officials. They really have no choice; their seats were purchased by the labor union and they are afraid to burn bridges.
The actions of the police leaders demonstrated respect for the community; the actions of D11 leaders, as usual, demonstrated contempt for the tax payers.
The status quo lives on.
posted by Craig Cox | 8:23 PM
3 Comments:
You're right about the fact that Irma repaying the misappropriated amount should be of no consequence. Whoever said that needs to think a bit.
The school board hasn't even had a regular meeting since Irmagate broke. The matter is now in the hands of both the CSPD and the DA's office. What more would you like?
Irma hasn't been transferred back to Jenkins yet.
There's no need to put her out on leave, since school isn't in session right now. Let's see what the status is in two months, which is when schools will be about to reopen for the fall.
Top admin has Irma right where they want her. She's compromised, and she's compromised the union's position at the bargaining table. So, yes, Terry Bishop and (especially) David Schenkel would have liked to keep her in the CSEA presidency.
Let's hope the police will work as quickly against Irma as they have one of their own. It's best for everybody, exceptIrma.
Alas, Mr. Cox, this is only an issue in your mind. The rest of the District 11 community could care less about anyone stealing public tax dollars, as long as the board members smile sweetly as they take from the most seriously disadvantaged to provide more for those who are already ahead of the curve.
According to a letter in today's Gazette penned by chaos organizers Mary Ellen McNally and Richard Serby, all is good in the land of D-11 Oz. Obviously neither of these authors have attended board meetings where Prez Gudvangen NEVER passes up an opportunity to make a smarmy comment about the previous board, nor his proclomation to "erase any evidence that the reformers were ever here".
Therefore, we simply CANNOT expect or demand that theft be dealt with appropriately. It would contradict today's letter writers claims that everything is better than ever in D-11.
Most telling: the new board voted to close East because of poor performance.
They didn't vote to figure out why East was on the verge of facing sanctions; they didn't vote to REALLY do better by those kids; they voted to close it, brush away the failures (in the form of diluting the underachieving population) and to continue to do business as usual.
McNally and Serby accuse you of having been under a rock these last six months. I think this blog proves them wrong! You have certainly done a yeoman's job trying to educate this community about the things that the Kumbaya Board would rather just ignore.
Anonymous #1, you are correct, the process is where it should be, which is in the hands of the DA. My criticism in this manner is mainly directed at the D11 administration. The DA had to ask for the case. The administration should have been proactive in filing the case with legal authorities in the first place. This highlights the lack of leadership shown by the 6-figure "leaders" in D11, including Bishop, Thurman, and Gustafson. I have praised the union leadership for removing Irma over this theft, although I still think that the internal politics of the union played a big part in this whole situation.
Anonymous #2, McNally and Serby live in a much different world than do working class tax payers in D11. As long as Gudvangen and his little cronies are attending the Old North End social events on time and giving McNally a polite ear, they are heroes in her book.
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