Construction Manager position snakes through school board.

Learned at the annual meeting (Oct. 8th) that the board had held interviews for an selected a Construction Manager for the 7th elementary school to monitor cost control. The position is a good thing. The way that the board went about it however, has a certain stench to it.

SP-EYE asked when the interview meetings were public noticed. On 10-22-07, Phil Frei responded that ,

" Administration was directed by the HR committee and School Board to bring a recommendation to the Board on a Construction Manager for the building projects. Adm. sent out RFP's and set-up interviews with three Construction managers. Adm. asked School Board members if they wanted to sit in on the interviews. This was administrative work, not a meeting of the School Board.

Mary Ellen Havel-Lang and Jim Carrel did sit in on the interviews.

The HR Committee also felt that this should not even be a "real" position, but simply an out-sourced service.

Hmmm. Let's see. When the FTT Committee was interviewing Construction firms for elementary #7 thisa spring, THOSE interviews were public noticed and held during open meetings. Even school board candidates for Jim Gibbs' vacant seat were interviewed during an open session. For such a large project, and for a new position--albeit a "temporary" one-- why was this done so quietly?