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Saugerties BOE "Report Card" (The Personal Opinion of George Heidcamp)
I'll take this opportunity to share with the readers a report of the events that have taken place over the first 90-days of the New Board. The new members (Jim Steinhilber, Mark Thompson and George Heidcamp) were sworn in on July 10, 2007. The first order of business was to elect a new president and vice-president. Donald Tucker was elected president and George Heidcamp vice-president. Voting against Tucker and Heidcamp were Parisian, McCaig and Brennan. Please take notice that during last year's leadership election, Tucker nominated and voted for Brennan for president, this year Brennan voted against Tucker for president. You be the judge on that one! Following are some of the votes that have taken place: " LAW FIRM: Motion by McCaig (second by Parisian) to reappoint law firm of Shaw, May & Lambert, LLP. Motion by Heidcamp (second by Fisco) to amend the above motion to read: "…change the term of the appointment of the school attorney to a period of 7/1/07 to 8/14/07 pending acceptance of contract, and further direct the Superintendent of Schools to seek an acceptance contract for legal services with our current law firm on a month -to-month basis to be submitted to the BOE for review and approval at the August 2007 meeting, and further direct that the Clerk publish a request for proposals in the official newspaper of the School District seeking legal council for the BOE." Amendment carried 6-3; voting "Yes" were Tucker, Heidcamp, Steinhilber, Petramale, Fisco, and Thompson; voting "No" were Parisian, Brennan and McCaig. Later in the meeting Parisian and Brennan raised the issue that the Board had never voted on the original motion regarding the appointment of the attorney. Heidcamp questioned Parisian's motive and timing as to why he had waited so long to say something---Parisian's answer was, "Because I'm smarter than you." " INTERNAL CLAIMS AUDITOR: Motion by Parisian (second by Brennan) to appoint Donald McCaig (brother of board member Bob McCaig) as the District's "Internal Claims Auditor," even in spite of the fact that the school attorney had issued a warning (in writing) to the Board that doing so is a prohibited "conflict of interest." Motion by Heidcamp (second by Fisco) to table the issue for further discussion due to the conflict of interest. Motion carried 6-3; voting "No" were McCaig, Parisian and Brennan. " STIPENDS: During the annual appointments, Heidcamp questioned why the Senior High School Extracurricular Activity Accounts Treasurer (who is secretary to principal Tim Price) was receiving a $3,042 stipend (which includes a 4% increase over last year) when the other five employees who are doing the same job in other parts of the District are not receiving any compensation; Motion by Steinhilber (second by Heidcamp) to table issue for further clarification; Motion carried 6-3; voting "No" were Parisian, McCaig and Brennan. " NEW HIRE: Motion by Parisian (second by Brennan) to hire a full-time Head Custodian at the annual salary of $45,000; Motion by Heidcamp (second by Fisco) to table the appointment due to the fact that Superintendent Rhau handed the board members the candidate's resume 1-minute prior to the start of the meeting; Motion to table carried 6-3; voting "No" were Parisian, McCaig and Brennan.
The most shocking and disturbing turn of events of the evening came when Parisian, unprovoked and without warning, verbally attacked Heidcamp as he walked into the room prior to the start of Executive Session with insulting remarks such as: "How much education do you have?;" "Do you have a high school diploma?;" and "Who took the police test for you?" Obviously enraged and seemingly out of control, he began yelling and arguing wildly; and then, when Steinhilber walked into the room, Parisian immediately started an argument with him. I could hardly believe what I had witnessed and was shocked by such a display of unrestrained temper. When the President entered the room, order was restored. A special meeting was called for July 20, 2007, for the purpose of appointing a new "Internal Claims Auditor" due to the conflict of interest. The Board appointed Gary Newkirk to fill the position. Voting "Yes" were Tucker, Heidcamp, Fisco, Petramale, Steinhilber and Thompson. Board members Parisian, McCaig, and Brennan were no-shows.
At the September 11th BOE meeting, several members from the public (including school coaches) voiced their concerns about the construction of the track. After much debate on the issue, board members Tucker, Heidcamp, Fisco, McCaig, Petramale, Steinhilber and Thompson voted to temporarily suspend construction of the track in order to give the public an opportunity to meet with and ask questions of the construction managers and architects. Board member Brennan was a no-show and Parisian left in the middle of the meeting. During the special meeting, Parisian remarked that the meeting was "stupid and a waste of time." How can having a meeting to allow the public to be heard be stupid and a waste of time? Also, during the meeting (which was witnessed by me and other board members), Brennan and Parisian were rudely talking and laughing with each other while other board members and the public were speaking. In fact after the meeting I was approached by several members from the audience who complained about their unprofessional conduct.
In closing, here are some of the accomplishments the new board has achieved under President Tucker's leadership: " The implementation of a new cell-phone policy (thus ending years of abuse) which was carried by a 6-3 vote; Voting "No" to the new policy were Parisian, McCaig, and Brennan. " The implementation of a new policy that all Board meetings be electronically tape-recorded and the tapes made available to the public " The implementation of a new policy requiring the BOE to strictly adhere to all Open Government Laws with respect to the discussion of labor grievances and the reason(s) why the BOE is entering Executive Session, such as for a "particular person(s) or Corporation" " The creation of a "Labor Relations Committee" which will enhance communications between the teachers, staff, unions, administration and members of the BOE " The creation of a "Policy and Procedure Committee" to review and up-date the District's Policies " The creation of a policy to open up communications between the BOE and the public during board meetings " A new hiring policy has been introduced for review by board member Thompson " At a meeting September 20th the BOE voted 6-1 to hire a new law firm to represent the District; Voting "Yes" were Tucker, Heidcamp, Steinhilber, Fisco, Thompson and Petrmale; Voting "No" was Parisian (Brennan and McCaig were absent). During the public portion of the meeting, Parisian attempted to engage me in a confrontation by challenging my reason for voting for a new law firm. My response was very simple, "It's time for change." Not satisfied with my answer, Parisian continued to badger me by saying that he heard "on the street" that the only reason I was voting to hire a new law firm is because the teachers aren't getting along with the current lawyer and I am backing the teachers. His gratuitous remarks are baseless, worthless, and untrue. In fact, even board member Brennan (who conveniently was absent during this meeting) had told me he is "not very thrilled with the way the current lawyer [was] handling this District with Rhau," and further that he "wants to look elsewhere to get more information from other law firms." I wish Mr. Brennan had attended that meeting---I would like to have seen how he would have voted. Again, you be the judge on that one! Stay tuned…
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