Culver controversy put to bed...at last

And no...Tim Culver didn't fall asleep during last night's meeting. After more than 6 months, the school board finally added some documentation to a long standing "undocumented understanding" regarding reimbursement for district administrator Tim Culver's Rotary Club membership. The board voted unanimously to approve payment of the dues, and meals at Rotary meetings "going forward" (whatever that means). We're wondering if that means we'll still pay for it if Culver retires. When exactly does "going forward" stop?

We're on record of supporting the membership...just not how it was documented...i.e., not at all. This district needs to be run more like a business and not using the Loosey Goosey method of fiscal accounting. Culver's contract already includes stipulations that one national and one state membership will be paid for by the District Why not add a local membership...the Rotary. Then it gets tied to his employment, and all "benefits" reside in a single place....the contract. The board signs "side letters to contracts all the time".

The board responded that all checks get approved by the Finance Committee and then the board, so therefore the membership was already approved. Yep...and folks watch those checks really well...don't they? At the last board meeting a check had to be re-issued because it was originally paid out to the wrong vendor. Did anyone notice? Frankly it's only a few citizens and one citizen rep on the Finance Committee that ever ask for explanation of ANY checks. Has anyone ever counted the checks that are written by the District in a single 2-week period? There are a lot of pucks that could get past the goalie.

Ahhhh...but we're not bitter...and we're not taking it personally, Mr. Carrel! Disappointed? Certainly. A citizen poses an equally simple , and arguably more defensible solution, but the board disagrees. No wonder people have been asking if the board simply votes down anything certain citizens speak out about. No...our elected leaders would never do such a thing. Clearly they know better how to manage the District's $65 M finances.

At least we finally have a firm, documented vote/approval on the expenditure instead of a bunch of "yeah...it's come up over the years....we've talked about that...just never taken any action on it".