Blame – 10/15/2009

Posted by Bob on October 15, 2009 under Daily Blogs | 12 Comments to Read

Waterbury Republican-American opinion writer John Crowell’s editorial in Wednesday’s (10/14/2009) edition criticizes our administration for not assigning blame in the tenuous and frustrating budget crisis surrounding Naugatuck’s Board of Education.  Certainly this is a sentiment expressed by many seeking answers to what happened, why it happened and what is being done to solve the problem this fiscal year and prevent it from happening in the future.  Assigning blame makes for great sound bites and quenches our inherent human instinct for revenge, but offers little in the way of tangible relief to struggling taxpayers, concerned parents and students and frightened educators.

I have always believed that accepting responsibility for mistakes is the first step in preventing their repeat.  Learning from mistakes and poor choices is a valuable tool for human growth.  Those who ignore them, pretend mistakes do not exist and/or attempt to place culpability for one’s actions and/or omissions on others are likely to continue to experience more of the same.  As parents we teach our children this valuable lesson on a daily basis, and quality educators reinforce and stress such timeless lessons to our students.  Unfortunately certain members of our Board of Education have been reluctant to confront the realities of this situation.

Mr. Crowell states that my fellow Burgesses have only “grumbled some but have done nothing meaningful to hold school officials’ feet to the fire.”  Again, a legitimate sentiment that makes for good press, but fails to explain the complexities of the situation facing the Borough.  While my diverse-thinking colleagues on the Board of Mayor and Burgesses have almost all publicly criticized the Board of Education and Tuttle leadership for failing to exercise proper financial oversight, Mr. Crowell subtly suggests that we need to terminate our superintendent, John Tindall-Gibson.

While many residents have publicly agreed with Mr. Crowell’s unstated suggestions, there are educational, legal and economic consequences to such an action.  Neither the Borough Board nor the Finance Board possess the statutory authority to enact such a personnel move.  Failure to resolve this matter in a responsible manner may leave local officials believing there are no other options but to advocate for a change in administrative and/or Board of Education leadership.  The tone, discussion and most importantly, substance, which result in the coming days are crucial to not only resolving this crisis, but providing a better structure in the future.  Acting without a plan and frank discussion of the consequences, however, is a disservice to taxpayers, despite the well-intentioned but inaccurate comparisons to private industry.

Reasonable minds can argue over semantics, but assigning blame in a reactive manner rather than requiring responsibility will only serve to heighten already tense emotions.  Our administration chooses to get to the root of this problem, fix it and not only prevent it from happening in the future, but improve our overall operations in the process.

The appointment of Borough Controller Wayne McAllister as the Board of Education business manager is a vital means to that end.  While many have suggested this arrangement over the years, our administration and the majority of Board of Education members unafraid of change actually made this happen.  Mr. Crowell can pontificate about how foolish we all are here in Naugatuck behind a Waterbury Republican-American editorial under which he does not list his name, but those of us who value all that Naugatuck can be as a community are fighting to change the way we do business on a daily basis.  Our administration and many Burgesses and Finance Board members are working tirelessly in a bi-partisan manner to responsibly address the financial problems of this fiscal year and plan for long-term stability and transparency.  If displaying anger and assigning absolute blame would protect taxpayers, care for the needs of our students and save educators’ jobs, such actions would have been taken long ago.

Mr. Crowell sarcastically suggests that I am unwilling to lay blame on education officials because my wife, Eileen, is an administrator in our district.  Such an assertion will likely appease those who pay Mr. Crowell’s salary and cynics who believe public officials are unable to possess core beliefs without self interest.  Some pessimistic minds may never change.  What I can assure those for whom I work, however, is that my life’s actions speak louder about my love for the Borough than my words can ever do.  As for Eileen, she earned her employment in our district long before I met her, has worked for Naugatuck schools here entire professional career, has been recognized statewide as a Connecticut Association of Schools teacher of the year, lives and pays taxes in the Borough and has and always will educate our children in Naugatuck public schools.  If career advancement was Eileen’s ultimate goal, she certainly would not need me to achieve it.

The Waterbury Republican-American’s urging of local officials to assign blame in this instance is a significant departure from its tone during the embarrassing spectacle that occurred during the not-so-distant Giordano administration in Waterbury.  The July 27, 2001, Republican-American editorial entitled “Life Goes On” urges Waterbury residents not to point fingers at those who supported the disgraced mayor over his many years at the helm of the Brass City.

“Nor is this a time,” opined the editorial staff that had endorsed Phil Giordano numerous times, “for I-told-you-so’s or declarations of vindication by the mayor’s past foes.”  (Waterbury Republican-American editorial page, July 27, 2001).  The editorial continued in its defense of its poor decisions by stating the supporters of Giordano and “this newspaper have soul-searching of their own to do”.  Id.  When you own a newspaper, you get to selectively determine when assigning and/or accepting blame is responsible and when “soul searching” is more appropriate.

I do not complain about the political biases of the media.  They exist in all markets and benefit some at the expense of others depending on geography.  That is part of our American system and makes our democracy stronger.  The free market and competition offer the only checks and balances available.  Fortunately we now have other options of communicating the gray areas of public issues rather than simply relying on traditional mediums which still deal in black and white ink.