Josephine Posti is president. Again. Elaine Cappucci is vice president. A woman who was caught plagiarizing makes an excellent role model.
By the way, the votes were 5-4 with Ostergaard the runner-up for both positions.
No mention of committees at the meeting. Is that appropriate?
Tom Peterson was appointed as Solicitor for his 17th year.
The recording will be going up shortly. Missing from the recording was the appointment of Mary Birks as temporary president.
Thanks to David Huston for purchasing and donating a Bible for tonight's reorganization meeting. No member was sworn in using the Bible.
19 comments:
Practice makes perfect, they say!
I suspect we should be receiving our HS Groundbreaking Invites any day now.
Giffen Good
I have no idea where the idea came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. Thank you for offering a Bible, Mr. Houston. Merry Christmas. Bill Hook
Additional thanks to David Huston for recording the meeting. He records all the school board meetings for me. Thanks, David.
Elaine
Having listened to the Reorganization Meeting of 5 December 2011 on Lebo Citizens, I was a little miffed that the board did not address David Huston’s request that the District lower the US Flag to half-staff on 7 December 2011 in honor of Pearl Harbor day. I feel Mr. Huston was owed some kind of reply.
As a Vietnam Era veteran and a person who deals with the Department of Defense every day, it seems to me that silence by our Board on this issue is disrespectful not only to our remaining WWII veterans, but active duty members of the military as well. It is customary for the President of the United States to issue a proclamation requiring the flag of the United States to be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on 7 December (see 4 USC, Chapter 1-6). President Obama had issued such a proclamation in 2010, and has done so again this year.
I called the District this morning to inquire about this situation, and was told that the flag will indeed be lowered to half-staff tomorrow. In all fairness, it is likely that, to its credit, the District had planned to do this some time ago. It just seems odd that the Board either did not know this or, if it did, decided that it was not worth a few seconds of comment.
Mr. Hook, I don't know where the idea came from that we are an explicitly Christian country. Why didn't Mr. Huston donate a Torah or a Tanakh? We have a huge Jewish population in Mt. Lebanon, including at least one of our newly elected SB members.
Fact is, there is NO requirement that an elected official be sworn in with a Bible or any other religious text. Dating back to the first Congress in 1789, we've given elected officials the OPTION to (a) swear (usually on a Bible of their own) to uphold the obligations of the oath or (b) affirm to uphold the obligations of the oath. Hence, the phrase "swear or affirm" appears in most oaths, including the school board oath.
I'd offer that because we are so far from being an explicitly atheist country, we have come to expect a Bible and a "so help me God" at a swearing in. However, there is no obligation or requirement - nor should there be an expectation - that an elected official use a Bible when taking the oath of office. It is purely a matter of personal choice.
Seeing as how at least one of our new school board members is Jewish, I'd have to say that our founding fathers were pretty forward thinking folks to give him the option of passing on Mr. Huston's Bible.
Dave Franklin
Mr. Franklin, I'm so glad you posted again because I have a question for you as Vice President of the Soccer Association:
When the Soccer Foundation sold the donated soccer field at the corner of Terrace and Conner Road, was their an appraisal of the land to justify the Foundation selling that large piece of land for only $125,000?
Or, to phrase the question another way, was there any evidence yo support the $125,000 price?
I'm no longer the VP of the MLSA and I wasn't on the Board during those transactions. However, I think my polite response would still be, none of your business.
Dave Franklin
Mr. Franklin, under the topic of Recreation here on Elaine's blog you posted:
"I find it troubling that there are people in our community who, instead of trying to help, would rather criticize those who have already contributed and who continue to contribute."
I offered a suggestion, not a criticism, to which you haven't replied as to what you thought of the suggestion. I apologize that it may not be the suggestion that the municipality spend millions of dollars they don't have on new ballfields, but its the best alternative I'd be willing to support at this time.
Giffen Good
Mr. Good, my comments were clearly not addressed to your suggestion as it came after my comment. I apologize for not responding to your question/suggestion sooner, but to be honest I forgot. I'm sure all of the sports groups will be examining what each of them can do to improve the condition of our fields. Those discussions may even take place collectively among all of these groups at some point soon. Soccer has had some discussions internally about putting money into Bird and I will leave it to that Board to decide whether it will do so (my term expired in November). As I've said repeatedly, lacrosse and football don't have piles of money on hand to invest in huge field improvements; however, I'm sure they will continue to do so when they can. Similarly, baseball will continue to apply a ton of it's operating budget to day to day field maintenance, not to mention a ton of man hours.
Dave Franklin
Mr. Franklin won't tell us if the $125,000 was properly cared for and invested to make it grow, or if the Soccer money was a part of the McNeilly field project, Now it is none of my business if the Soccer Association had an appraisal to determine the fairness of the sale price on a large tract of land that was donated to the Soccer Foundation.
I think we deserve better answers from the VOICE of the D. A. S. Was the sale of the land done at a bargain price or a fair price? Was the money offered as part of the McNeilly field project or not? What evidence exists to prove these facts?
Looking at the Mt Lebanon Soccer Foundation on Guidestar, I found the following quote:
"This organization's exempt status was automatically revoked by the IRS for failure to file a Form 990, 990-EZ, 990-N, or 990-PF for 3 consecutive years. Further investigation and due diligence are warranted."
In other words, the Foundation did not file tax returns for three years and now is no longer exempt tax exempt.
This really highlights the question of fiscal management at the Soccer Foundation.
Elaine, clearly we are way off topic, but that's not unusual when Mr. Ewing starts to attack me. I'll answer his last comment and be done.
Mr. Ewing, I'm pretty sure the soccer foundation sold the property to the Fitzgerald Brothers in 2003 for $175,000 (not $125,000 as was previously suggested by Mr. Lewis).
In order to develop this land, it will be necessary to (1) enclose a large portion of Painters Run Stream, (2) protect several wetlands and springs that flow into the area, (3) relocate an 8-inch high pressure Mobil gas line, (4) replace a sanitary trunk sewer, (5) address a high voltage electric transmission line, (6) bring in about 85,000 cubic yards of fill to make it level, and (7) address the concerns of neighbors regarding traffic flow etc. I'm inclined to believe that these factors had some impact on the sales price and the overall marketing of the property. Some of these tasks may have been completed in the seven and half years that Kossman has owned the property, but I don't think so. Given that no one has had any success in developing the land for almost a decade, one might argue that the foundation made a pretty good decision to sell the land when they did. The property is still assessed at $181,000.
No money was never committed by the soccer foundation (or any other sports group) as part of the most recent McNeilly proposal; however, had the proposal and the project moved forward, some of that money would have been applied to either fund certain amenities at the site or cover all or a portion of the $100,000 condition precedent to accepting any bid for field improvements. (I apologize to those of you who feel that we've been through this already. We have.)
However, Mr. Ewing, what the soccer foundation elects to do with this money now or in the future remains none of your business.
Dave Franklin
John Ewing, I may disagree with some of the things that David Franklin says, but I also find it very tiresome that you continue to hijack every topic on this blog to rant about the various athletic associations and your continued insistance that Mr. Franklin is, in your mind, the spokesperson for any and all of these. I think that anyone who reads Elaine's blog knows how you feel. Why not give it a rest?
Joe Wertheim
Here is the $125,000 pledge made for McNeilly by the Soccer Association.
Soccer Association pledge
And yes, we are way off topic. I would be willing to forget the $125,000 pledge if we could get that $8 million pledge, but that is another story in itself.
Elaine
Since the Soccer Foundation is no longer tax exempt, are they paying taxes on the gifted monies?
Getting back to Josephine Posti, remember how she was stunned at the December 3, 2007 meeting because "she had expected the board would follow with its past tradition of elevating the vice president to the presidency of the board." Isn't that what happened to Dale Ostergaard last night?
I didn't check the paper today, but I am willing to bet there isn't an article about Dale being stunned.
Also, did I hear Larry Lebowitz say that Josephine is an excellent communicator? The same woman who couldn't communicate to David Huston that the flags will be at half staff tomorrow? The same woman who didn't know about the bid opening delay this round? The same woman who should know about citing her sources since she is "in the business of communication" as Larry pointed out last night? The same woman who chose to ignore our 25 questions about the renovation?
This is appalling.
Elaine
Read more: http://www.pittsburgh-pa.net/pg/07340/839487-55.stm#ixzz1fnIEPspo
Elaine
I thank you for your response, Mr. Franklin.
So, that we find at least some common ground upon which to work, it's great that these groups are active and working so diligently.
I'm of the mind that maybe sometimes it would be better if occassionally we let the kids fend for themselves once in a while, but that is a discussion for another day. Mom and dad don't need to schedule each and every minute of their daily activities.
Now as to the parks... I support keeping then up - its a community obligation.
The sports groups would, I think, find a lot more support in that effort if the school district wasn't sucking up every dollar it can. Some people seem to think the sports "consortium" is involved in that effort too and the catalyst for the attacks on your groups.
Lets look at some of the headlines. The SD is going to dig up a perfectly good ballfield - which you say you need more of - (and tennis courts) not to improve the educational facilities, but rather to build a monumment to athletics. And please don't tell me our current gyms are obsolete and inadequate. Three seasons of the girls basketball team leading the WPIAL contradicts that argument. Or is there something magical in a new building that will drive the district's teams to even loftier goals?
What I'm driving at - this is one lousy economy to be assuming debt and tearing up established sports facilities.
The US post office is laying off people, PAT transit is clamoring for revenue, USC is talking about furloughing teachers, charging fees for sports participation and all we here think about is spending money for ballfields I never see kids using unless mom and dad have enrolled them in an organized sport (at least at the middle school age)!
There's something amiss in this picture and I'm not what it is.
Do the kids need better, glitzier arenas or they won't go out and play? Do mom and dad need the leverage of "look what we've spent to make you a better person" to get them involved?
I'm baffled as where best to put my few expendiable and hard-earned dollars to the best use.
I'm not interested in fighting with my neighbors otherwise I'd suggest we start building boxing rings!
Giffen Good
One would think that being out of the loop on the bid submission date while a resident knows it would be sufficient reason to look for a new leader.
But, hey who am I to judge... all I'm suppose to do is keep wriing checks.,, right?
Giffen Good
Mr. Good,
If you write a check to the Soccer Foundation don't try to write it off on your taxes. According to Guidestar the Soccer Foundation lost their tax exemption so you can't write-off the contribution as a tax deduction.
That explains to why we were going to fund raise for fields by raising the registration fees on all children instead of the Soccer Foundation using the fund-raising model for the Veterans' Memorial coupled with a matching challenge to the community for voluntary donations. You really can't ask folks to donate many dollars to a Foundation if your donation is no longer tax deductible.
John Ewing.
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