March 23, 2012
To: Members of the SMMUSD Board of Education & Superintendent Sandra Lyon:
You may have thought I’d shelved my purple pen, but the resignation of Joan Chu Reese from the FOC and the surrounding circumstances have forced me to pull that pen out of retirement. As did Ms. Reese in her letter of resignation, I also wish to exempt from the following comments Nimish Patel, Laurie Lieberman, and Ben Allen.
It is a very sad day for SMMUSD public education when a highly-intelligent, highly-qualified, articulate, fair, objective, and devoted individual like Ms. Chu Reese is effectively forced out of a critical SMMUSD volunteer position. Ms. Chu Reese is that rare sort of individual – one with a point of view, but not an agenda – that we have too few of in this district. Adding insult to injury – the attack on independent points of view through intimidation, behind the scenes maneuvering, silencing of non-Board-centric points of view, and divisive politics evidenced in this situation demonstrates what has become the prevailing M.O. of a particular faction of the Board, one which is intent on shutting down representation on the FOC – and in many other SMMUSD activities as well – of all but a select portion of Board-“friendly” SMMUSD residents.
Do we still live in a Democracy, where all points of view can freely be aired and respected, regardless of ultimate outcome? It doesn’t seem so anymore, certainly not in SMMUSD.
The departure of Ms. Chu Reese, together with departures from the FOC of other highly qualified and objective individuals that may follow, is a tremendous loss for SMMUSD. It diminishes all of us, whether you choose to realize that or not.
Ms. Lyon – At this point, you may be realizing that you are but a pawn in a political power game. With one faction of the Board intent upon drawing so many harsh lines in the sand of the playing field, you might want to give some thought to whose team you really want to be on.
And Mr. Mechur – I have nothing whatsoever against either you or your partner Linda Gross personally – you are both good and well-intentioned people. However, your personal relationship with Linda has rendered your Board position almost completely impotent, as you must recuse yourself from so many issues of financial import. Given that the attempted move to centralized fundraising will be at the forefront of Board efforts for the foreseeable future, either you or Linda need to resign your position. If you both remain, you seriously diminish the healthy and dynamic functioning of the Board, which is a disservice to the entire district, and most particularly to the students you are supposed to serve.
In closing, I ask you all to ponder this quote from the preamble to the Brown Act: “…..Public agencies in [California] exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly. The people ……. do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed, so that they may retain control of the instruments they have created.”
Joan Chu Reese and many of her colleagues on the FOC used their significant talents and skills to advance the people’s business in effectively carrying out their independent oversight function of Board financial activities. Her departure, effective March 20th, is a deeply felt and significant loss for the people.
Ann Hoover
Advocates for Malibu Public Schools 