posted by Mike Madison at 5:05 PM /
I took a look at the agenda for the School Board meeting scheduled for tonight (11/19) and sure enough, there's the following item:Seems odd to me that the outgoing School Board is holding a vote tonight to hire the architect for the high school project. Can't this be put off to allow for newly elected members of the Board to vote for the architect THEY want to work with during their term?
Why does the outgoing Board feel the need to put this up for vote as the last thing they do on the way out the door?
I will reach out to who I can that has just been elected and see what they think.
I would urge others to consider asking themselves why this vote would be taking place at this juncture.
13. New Business for Board Consideration and Action. All matters of new business were considered and discussed by the Board at its discussion meeting on November 12, 2007, except as noted (*). . . .Architect Contract: RESOLVED, That the Board approves entering into a contract with _________________to provide architectural services for the High School Renovation Project.
Labels: school district
5 Comments:
And the winner is .... Celli-Flynn Brennan Architects & Planners!
I know there was some concern in the "outgoing" board making this decision - but they did do considerable work in the selection process. We cannot start big projects over every two years when the board changes. Although it is interesting to note that as of next month 8 of 9 board members will have 2 years or less experience as a school board member. And 5 are graduates of MTLHS. Additionally, the single most important decision in making the project a success or disappointment was hiring Mr. Allison as Superintendent. Let's get engaged and get on with things.
First, we haven't elected an entirely new Board. Instead, the newly elected members will join the current Board members, who I assume have been engaged with the ongoing due diligence involved with selecting an architect. If those existing board members have an issue with the architect or the selection process, they can certainly raise it.
Otherwise, as I see it (and I voted for the new Board members), life goes on. I would note that the Board is also approving a number of other items this evening - should all of those items wait until the new members of the Board take their seats? What level of decision making is appropriate (in your opinion) for outgoing board members. Why does everyone always presume some improper motive?
And lastly, hiring an archiect doesn't mean that the wrecking ball is going to show up next week.
Please relax. For once, can we all try and get behind a project instead of poking holes in it at the start?
Despite the fact that the "old" board is hiring the architect. This is really just the beginning of the project. Now that the architect is picked, the new board members should have considerable say in the actual design plans. The architect will take their ideas and implement it into his/her plan. I feel the sooner the better to get someone on board, as time goes on, prices are only going to increase.
I was one that spoke up about the possibility of delaying the vote until the new Board takes their seat. My reasons were quite simple. I wanted to make sure that the proposal of the architect was up to par. The last bit of information any of us had was that there were two proposals that were quite different, possibly to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Believe me, it was not my intent to start the process over again. The time invested in the process was considerable as it was. Delaying it until a December meeting, in my mind at least, would have allowed incoming Board members the opportunity to review the final two proposals, get a great deal of input from the outgoing Board members, and still make what could very well have been the same decision.
I will say that I was able to talk to a few Board members after the meeting and I am much more comfortable with what I was told will be in the final agreement than when I rose to speak prior to the vote. Unfortunately, with so little information available about the terms of the deal the community was simply put in a position to trust that the Board decision was right. In this particular case I believe things came together just prior to the regular meeting and having that information available to all was just not feasible.
All that being said, Celli-Flynn is definitely a highly-qualified architect and I look forward to seeing what they have to offer.
James
James:
I truly hope that your comment that the the "community was simply put in a position to trust that the Board decision was right" resonates with a number of residents, including the many naysayers on this blog. In every form of our government, we are left to believe that the decision of our elected officials is right. Our's is a representative form of government - we all don't get a vote on the issues. Instead, we elect people - in this case our neighbors - to make informed, educated decisions.
In this instance, and particularly based upon your comments, my faith in the good people who we elect to serve has been reinforced rather than challenged.
I often feel that if this community and our school district were as misguided and mismanaged as many of you believe to be the case, this town would have died on the vine long ago.
Good luck Mr. Fraasch (and the other newly elected Board members). As Mr. Rodella indicated in his opening remarks, this truly is a thankless position and no one will ever line up to tell you that you've done good.
But we should.
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