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By the time this article hits the newsstand, it will have been almost two-months since an official letter was sent to the School Board requesting that the Board sit down to discuss my questions and/or complaints regarding Superintendent Rhau's behavior. By now, it is exceedingly obvious that Board President Brennan, Vice-President Maclaac and their cronies have no intention of curbing the excesses, and just plain have no intention of addressing these issues with any member of the public, if at all. Seems the only other way to get answers to these questions is to go over their heads. Accordingly, it appears that my other alternative is to move forward to the next level and file an official complaint with Commissioner Mills of the New York State Board of Education. The intent would be to request an investigation into possibly inappropriate conduct by certain board members, and at this level, it might well mean removal from public office. The new board president (Brennan) had assured me that he would do the right thing for the District, even though he had made it quite clear that the real reason he would be running for president was his daughters: he hoped to have the position in the year one daughter would be graduated and would "like to see" the other land a teaching job in the District. He promised me, "up and down." Giving him every benefit of doubt, I trusted him and, based on those assurances, supported him. Sadly, I am wrong for having done so, for those pledges were empty, conniving promises. When I make a mistake, I admit it, and so, unfortunately, I must do so now. Brennan certainly appeared to be on the right path, sounding as if he would make every attempt to give the taxpayers of the District their money's worth and a fair shake. Something changed Brennan's direction, however, and he either fell under the spell of Rhau, as fellow cronies had done before him, or his earlier words and actions were actually contrived–part of a con job. Since Rhau is the one who makes the hiring recommendations, perhaps there was an ulterior motive here. A large piece of the puzzle has fallen into place and a picture is beginning to emerge. We have been hoodwinked. A Lapse of Conscience The more I examine that picture, the more obvious it seems, Brennan is on a mission. Still, what's so very confusing is that during telephone conversations with Brennan, he wholeheartedly agreed that the information that had been made public about Rhau was factual and indicated his unhappiness about some of the things that had happened. He was so convincing. He claimed he contacted the school attorney and presented him with all my information with a view toward having the lawyer to put pressure on Rhau. He claimed to have asked the attorney not to tell Rhau of their conversation but, unfortunately (according to Brennan), the request was not honored. Then, "not thrilled " with the school attorney and his handling of the District and Rhau, Brennan mentioned that he wished to look elsewhere for a different law firm to represent the District. In another matter, when teachers protested in front of the Cahill school because their proposals had not yet been addressed by the Board--and Brennan was interested in attaining the presidency post, he denounced the Board for dragging their feet on negotiations. When I joked that the reason is that Rhau was too busy eating all those free lunches at Chowhound, Brennan agreed, responding "Right, instead of buying books, crayons and everything else." But what I find particularly disturbing, is that when I e-mailed Brennan and asked the simple question of whether it is true that a conflict of interest exists when a board member's brother is paid $2,500 per year to be the school's "internal claims auditor," his answer was, "This is the first I am hearing of this." His answer is simply not true, and in my opinion, Brennan's answer goes beyond being a mere lapse of memory, it is more like a lapse of conscience....a con job. I have since done some research and discovered that it was Brennan, himself, who had raised the concern regarding McCaig when the school attorney is alleged to have informed him (Brennan) that it is a prohibited conflict of interest conflict. Brennan has not been honest with me, and it certainly appears to be intentional dishonesty. He is hiding his knowledge, but why? Why would Brennan cover this up? Why doesn't he want the public to know? Why did he intentionally lie to me? What else is he covering up? He owes us all an explanation as to his knowledge and why he lied about it. At the very least, Brennan needs to come clean. It really makes me wonder about Brennan's motive: is there even more than I suspect? Can he ever be trusted again? This is preciously why it is so hard to have faith in certain board members and the administration in general. And this is preciously why we need change on that board. Keep your eyes on this one! It will be interesting to watch events while the Board is in the process of evaluating Rhau's performance. After all, a favorable evaluation could result in an additional 4 per cent salary increase come January, on top of the 4.75% he received just a month ago. Rhau's Contract states, in part: .....The Superintendent's base salary shall be increased by 4.75%, effective July 1, 2005; and an additional 4.75%, effective July 1, 2006. In the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years, the Superintendent's base salary shall increase by a minimum of 4% each year. The Board may provide the Superintendent with merit increases to his base salary of up to 4% each year in 2007-08 and 2008-09 after evaluation of the performance of the Superintendent... It will be interesting to see how each board member evaluates him. I understand that Rhau has indicated that he does not want the Board to evaluate him after June. Why? What is the significance of June? What is he expected to occur between June and August that may reflect unfavorably upon him? This certainly whets one's appetite, doesn't it? In the spirit of the Sunshine Laws, I will attempt to "FOIL" for the evaluations and bring them to light by posting them on the watchdog web site. More Sunshine FYI... I have also "FOILed" for any and all e-mails (which are public information) between Rhau and board members for the past two years. I wonder how many times the "delete" bottom will be hit.... Stay tuned more to come....
George D. Heidcamp, Sr. August 24, 2006 |