May 24, 2000

Be trustful! Be civil! Be ever vigilant!

I returned, last Thursday, from out of town to read of a majority of the LS School District Board and member Judy Metcalf clashing again.

Like my wife's distant cousin Will Rogers, all I know is what I read in the papers, the Tribune in this case. I'm aware Judy Metcalf can be just as soft and gentle as an annoyed porcupine, but she's on the right side this time. Government business is inherently inefficient. The Brown Act, dedicated to doing the public's business in public, if lived up to religiously, can, all by itself, slow things down a lot.

Like Judy, I'm curious why a contract appeared on the board's consent agenda three months after the contract took effect and work had begun. Surely it's not harassment to ask a staffer why this hadn't come before the board before the contract went into effect. Surely this is the job the board was elected to do. Surely Laguna Salada school district is a public entity and the board was elected to scrutinize things like contracts. I agree the board shouldn't micro-manage district business. Like a city manager, a district superintendent is hired by the board to handle the day to day functioning of our schools. The board oversees the district, establishes goals, and ascertains those goals are being met properly. When Laguna Salada district was established, a half century ago, carbon paper and the mimeograph machine were state of the art. It would have made sense for Superintendent Mary Jane Drury to be annoyed if asked to furnish copies of contracts. Somebody would have had to sit down at a typewriter and copy them letter by letter. I received my travel orders in the service cranked out on a trusty old mimeograph. The Tribune was set in type galley by galley on a three ton machine that created lead slugs.

Today, once a contract has been typed, it's no big deal to crank out 50 copies on the photocopier. If it's a nuisance for staff to take 10 minutes, perhaps they might call on the senior citizens at the Community Center and recruit some volunteers.

Paper is a third of a cent a sheet. Twenty sheets can be copied for a dollar. Surely the public's business is worth that.

I regret board President Cliff Jones refused to allow discussion when Metcalf was criticized by Mike O'Neill. Doesn't Robert's Rules of Order call that a "Point of personal privilege?" Ms. Metcalf was elected to the board precisely to vote her own conscience, not to go along with the majority if their consciences don't mesh with hers.

Board members aren't doing their jobs when they rubber stamp the ideas of board presidents, or board majorities, or district superintendents. That means on occasion they'll vote no when others vote yes. On occasion, they'll want to read contracts that affect the district and its taxpayers before they agree the district should be bound by them. Pacifica's residents like me have suffered in the past because we've complacently placed our naive trust in the hands of those unworthy of same. Names of said unworthies available with your court order or other appropriate document.

Paul Azevedo has been observing Pacifica's governmental bodies in action for 36 years and counting. His natural tendency to be naive and trusting has been sorely tried from time to time. He can be reached at Paul@thereactor.net